Dirty Singing
by rokeat
Summary: WRITTEN FOR THE BLAM WEEK: ROMANTIC MOVIES. BASED ON "DIRTY DANCING". When Blaine arrived to the mountain hotel he was going to spend his summer with his family, he didn't expect all that romance, drama and music waiting for him. He wasn't expecting to have the time of his life, but then again he never expected to meet someone like Sam, did he? SLASH BLAM.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** Goes in advance that I apologize to anyone I might ruin this movie for! ;) I have to admit I've had a great time writing it, and it was a project that I had in mind since a long time ago, so when the blam week gave me the "romantic movies" prompt, I knew it was the right time to do it! It was supposed to be a short story but well… you know me :) It's so long I had to divide it into four chapters!_

 _You'll see it follows the main plot of the movie to a big extent, although there are a lot of variations and original scenes too._

 _Of course I've had to take some licenses with the characters to adapt them to the story, as the fact that Blaine here is a bit younger than Sam (Blaine is 17-18 and Sam is 23) and the rest, or how Puck and Santana are the bad guys (you know Puck is usually good in my stories but well… I needed a villain for this!). And of course Cooper and Sebastian will be there, don't worry, I know you like them! Oh, and it's the first time I've included Quinn in one of my fics!_

 _As I said, it's very long! So please, take your time to read and let me know if you're liking it if you want! :)_

 _Well, I'm not going to spoil anything else for you. I really really hope you like it, because it's come to be a very special piece for me. Enjoy it!_

* * *

 **DIRTY SINGING**

 _Summer of 1963_

Blaine smiled as he smelled the fresh air coming through the open window of his car seat. The weather was splendid, and he couldn't wait for their first real vacation in years with the whole family. After all, his father was a reputable doctor, and he hardly ever got any free time, especially three weeks in a row as the ones they were going to enjoy this time.

One of his patients, a man with heart problems called Burt Hummel, had invited them to spend the summer on his holiday complex or, as he liked to call it, his "Mountain house", even if he had room for thousands of guests. So that's how they had ended up packing up and driving all the way from Westerville to the Hummel's, where they were supposed to have the most fun of their lives.

Blaine looked at his side, where his older brother Cooper was looking at a mirror and apparently rehearsing some kind of lines or impressions he would undoubtedly use in one of those castings of his –that hardly ever got him anywhere–. Blaine smiled fondly at him: he adored his brother and, even if they were as different as night and day, he knew he could always count on him when he needed him.

Their parents travelled at the front, and Blaine didn't miss the loving gaze and the smile they shared when they saw the Hummel's sign and knew they were finally arriving. Not for the first time, Blaine wished someday he would find someone to complete him like his parents completed each other. Even though he knew it was going to be more difficult in his case, he thought with a sigh.

As they entered the complex, Blaine could see the esplanade in the middle of the place was swirling with activities: sports, dancing, games… Apparently it wouldn't be that difficult to find something to entertain himself in those three weeks. Of course the possibility of finding a romance on a familiar and conservative place like that was out of question for someone like him, so he didn't even think about it.

His thought were interrupted as soon as their car arrived to the entrance of the main building and Burt Hummel came to meet them with one of his employees, as apparently he had been waiting for them.

"Doc!" Mr. Hummel greeted his guest happily, rushing to shake his hand.

"Burt" Don Anderson acknowledged him with a warm smile.

"After all these years I finally got you on my mountain" Burt exclaimed happily before turning to the tall boy standing next to him. "Sebastian, get the bags"

"Sure, Mr. Hummel, right away" the boy answered politely as he hurried to obey.

"I kept the best cabin for you and your beautiful family, doc" Blaine heard Burt say as he followed Sebastian to the back of the car to help him. He might come from a wealthy family, but he didn't feel comfortable when people did things for him he could perfectly do for himself.

"Hey, thanks a lot" Sebastian said with a wide smile as he discovered Blaine getting the suitcases out of the trunk next to him. "You want a job here?"

Blaine smiled warmly at him, grateful for the friendly welcoming.

"I'm Blaine" Blaine said, politely offering his hand to the taller boy.

"Sebastian, although you already heard that" Sebastian answered, seeming really friendly. "Maybe I can show you around a bit later. You know, as a thank you for helping me"

"That would be nice" Blaine easily answered, as he hadn't expected to make any friends there, much less so quickly, and Sebastian seemed a really nice guy.

The summer was looking bright indeed!

* * *

"Mum, Dad, I'm going to the main house to have a look around!" Blaine shouted from the porch as he left towards the main building that same afternoon without even waiting for an answer.

They had had lunch with Mr. Hummel before finally going to see the wonderful cabin that had been assigned to them, a little away from all the noise and the mess of the main building. It was beautiful, and they even could see the lake from their porch. It was indeed a really beautiful place, and Blaine had no doubts that Mr. Hummel had given them the best cabin, as he said.

But after a good while putting their clothes on the closets –Cooper had brought like everything he owned– and getting comfortable around the place, Blaine had started feeling restless and had decided to have a walk around, to investigate the place before dinner –unfortunately Sebastian hadn't been free to meet him after all–. And that's what he was doing right now.

He was walking by the exterior corridors of the place, admiring the beauty of the place, when he walked past the dining room, where the dinner was going to be served in just a while, and he saw a different side of Mr. Burt Hummel as he spoke to the waiters and waitresses who were getting everything ready than the one he had seen in the morning. Careful so as not to be seen, Blaine neared his ear to the little aperture of the door and listened.

"I don't have to remind you that this is a family place" Burt said to the boys and girls surrounding him, as it was obvious he was giving them some last minute instructions. "That means that you keep your fingers out of the water, your hairs out of the soup and give their goddam sons and daughters a good time. Show them up to the terrace, show them the stars, romance them in any way you want"

Burt Hummel's speech was interrupted when some other employees, not dressed in suits so Blaine figured they were not waiting stuff, appeared behind them, leaded by the most amazingly stunning guy Blaine had ever seen. He was blond, tall and muscular, and he had a set of amazing lips that almost left Blaine breathless. He seemed older than him, but probably not that much. He was wearing dark clothes and wearing sun glasses even if they were inside, and there was an aura of bad boy around him and in the cocky way he walked that made Blaine's knees go weak.

"Hey, guys" the blond said, and the tone of his voice didn't disagree with the rest of his arrogant stance.

"Hold it!" Mr. Hummel yelled threateningly at the blond and the others before he disappeared, giving Blaine the impression he didn't like the boy very much. "Well, if it isn't the entertainment staff! Listen, wiseass, you've got your own rules. Dance with their daughters, teach them how to play guitar, teach them love songs… anything they pay for, but that's it, that's where it ends. No funny business, no conversations, and keep your hands off!"

Whatever cockiness this guy had, he repressed it in front of his boss, as he only lowered his head and accepted the telling-off as if he didn't have any other choice. Blaine felt bad for him for a second, even though he was aware of how ridiculous that was, considering he didn't know that guy –and frankly, his appearance seemed to say he needed to be told off.

"You think you can keep that straight, Sam?" One of the waiters said to the blond guy once their boss was gone. So Sam was his name, then. "What you can and can't lay your hands on?"

"Just put your pickle on everybody's place, Puckerman, and leave the hard stuff for me" Sam answered, his arrogance back in an instant in the form of a sarcastic smirk, and before he turned around and walked away from that other guy he made sure to hit some napkins on the table nearer to him so that Puckerman would have to arrange them again.

Blaine hurried away from that door before anyone noticed his presence, knowing it was just a matter of time before any of the staff or even other guests would catch him eavesdropping. It was getting late anyway, and his family was probably waiting for him. But as he walked back to their cabin, he couldn't stop thinking about that Sam guy and what he would give to discover what exactly his job in the hotel was.

* * *

Dinner was pretty nice, and Blaine had to admit the service was exquisite even if the waiter that had been assigned to them was that Puckerman guy who had tried to make fun of Sam –so he had Blaine's immediate disapproval, even if he knew he was being an idiot–. But after all, Blaine guessed it was not that difficult to pretend to be a nice polite guy while working even if he was the biggest jerk. Which he didn't even know if he was, he had to remind himself once again.

"Everything alright here, family?" Burt asked them as he came to see them when they were just about to finish. "I made sure to assign you the best of our waiters, Noah Puckerman. He and his sister Santana are the children of a good friend of mine"

"Yes, everything was perfect, Burt" Don answered with a polite smile.

"I want you to meet someone" Burt said as he motioned for someone to come, and a boy not much older than Blaine appeared at his side. "This is my son Kurt. He is studying hotel management in Cornell School"

"Oh, Blaine is starting in Yale on the fall" Don Anderson answered, proudly squeezing Blaine's forearm that had been resting on the table.

"Oh, isn't that great" Kurt exclaimed, smiling widely at Blaine as if he had forgotten about everyone else around them.

Blaine looked quizzically at the other boy as he talked with his father. He was wearing a flamboyant suite without giving a shit about what the others would think and he seemed lively and too stiff. Blaine could see he had already gained his father's favor with his impeccable manners and his ability to suck up to people. He was exactly the kind of person Blaine usually preferred to avoid.

"Want to join me for a while? I'm in charge of the entertainment tonight" Blaine suddenly realized Kurt was talking to him, and everyone was looking expectantly at him for an answer.

"Oh, I don't know…" Blaine answered, trying to find an excuse to pass on that offer, as it was the last thing on his mind. "It's pretty late"

"Oh, don't worry, Blaine, we're on vacation" Don said, as he fondly smiled at his responsible son. "You go and have fun, we'll be at the ballroom anyway"

"You sure, Dad?" Blaine asked, trying to send a knowing look to his father so he wouldn't insist. "I don't want you worrying about me all night"

"We won't be worrying, we know you'll be with this nice boy" Don insisted, not realizing about his son's intentions. "If we are going to be here for three weeks, you're going to need some friends your own age, after all"

"So come on, Blaine, I can't wait to show you around" Kurt rushed him as he came behind him and helped him move the chair away from the table so he wouldn't escape. "You're going to love it"

Mentally blaming his father for not knowing how to read him, Blaine smiled politely at the other boy and stood up to follow him.

* * *

Blaine would have been lying to himself if he didn't admit he was enjoying the tour Kurt was giving him around the hotel –even if it was with him–, because he was taking him to see it from the inside. He was showing him absolutely every little place in the complex, and it would have been really interesting if he hadn't noticed Kurt was only trying to show off about how rich his family was and how amazing his hotel looked.

"So you're going to mention in Medicine, like your father?" Kurt asked, and Blaine almost missed it because he had disconnected from the conversation when Kurt had started yet another one of his long-winded speeches about why Hummel's was better than any other hotel around.

"Oh, I… I still don't know" Blaine politely answered, not wanting to sound rude even if he didn't feel like talking about that with someone he had just met –and who hadn't made that good an impression on him–. "The truth is… I would like to become a musical actor, but my father doesn't see it with good eyes"

"Oh, I'm the biggest Broadway fan!" Kurt said as they finally arrived to the ballroom where his parents would be, again making everything about himself and completely ignoring Blaine's doubts about his future. "I can sing any song of any musical, hitting the highest notes! Maybe I can show you sometime!"

"Sure" Blaine answered with a forced smile, searching amongst the people for his family. Maybe Cooper would save him –wait, no, he was already chatting with one of the waitresses, a beautiful brunet, he better not count on him.

"Oh, let's have a drink before you go back to your parents" Kurt said, already pushing Blaine towards the bar.

"Oh, I can't drink, I don't have the age" Blaine honestly answered, although what he really wanted was to have an excuse to lose sight of that obnoxious guy.

"Then we'll have something alcohol-free, don't worry" he assured him before he asked the bartender for two soft San Francisco's and guided him to an empty table.

Kurt kept talking and talking as Blaine sipped his drink as fast as he dared for it not to be too obvious, but he was surprised when the lights diminished and a couple appeared on the stage, apparently to give some kind of gig, as they had microphones and guitars. Only one look at the boy, and Braine's breath caught in his throat when he realized the boy was Sam.

"Who's that?" Blaine asked, trying to sound casual as Sam and his blond feminine partner started playing a beautiful song.

"Oh, them" Kurt exclaimed in a voice full of disdain. "They're the music teachers. They also perform every now and then, they're here to keep the guests happy and entertained"

Blaine completely shut out Kurt again as he listened to the music Sam and his partner were doing. He hadn't heard that song before, so he wondered if they had written it themselves. The girl was beautiful and had a nice voice, but Blaine's whole attention was on Sam: he was looking even more handsome than before, dressed slightly smarter for the occasion, and he had the sweetest voice Blaine had ever heard. And the way he seemed to be caught on his own music, as if he had forgotten where he was and just wanted to feel it in his bones…

"They shouldn't do those kinds of songs, people are here to have a good time and listen to the music they already know so they can sing along, right?" Kurt judgingly commented after a moment, but Blaine didn't even cared about answering this time.

Because that song was probably the most beautiful thing Blaine had ever heard. He didn't care if the other people were having fun or would have preferred listening to the same bullshit they listened to every day. For him the moment was perfect, and he only had eyes and ears for that blond boy who had already stolen his heart with that sweetness and authenticity he could perceive in him even under that cocky image he intended to give.

But as soon as the song was over and Blaine was taken out of his entrancement, he noticed Burt was also in the room and he made a gesture to cut it off with his hand, as if feigning to chop his head off, to Sam and his partner to give the audience what they wanted. And Blaine was so sad to see Sam just obediently nodding at him and starting to play the most overheard song of the summer that he finally apologized to Kurt and escaped to find his parents.

* * *

Fortunately for him, his parents were starting to look for him too –after all, it was kind of late, and he was still young– and they got together to go back to their cabin. Cooper was still having a good time with that girl, Santana was her name, and given he was much older than Blaine, they didn't mind for him staying as long as he wanted.

But only half hour after his parents got into bed, Blaine started getting restless again. He didn't feel like sleeping, and he couldn't concentrate enough to read one of the many books he had brought with him. He was perfectly aware of whom was behind his inability to concentrate, and he would give anything to be able to see Sam again in that very moment. What if…? No, come on, he was not like that, he was a responsible and sensible boy, he had never acted against his parents' wishes. Was he really thinking about sneaking out?

Yes, he was. Gosh, that was terrifying and exciting in equal parts. He dressed up again and then, very silently, he opened the door of his room and tiptoed all the way to the front door of the cabin, wishing he wouldn't run face first into Cooper coming back. Although they shared a room and he wouldn't find him on his bed if he came back before him… But Cooper would never snitch on him, so he didn't really need to worry about that. He would surely get him through a third grade, but he guessed that was the price he would have to pay for his silence.

He didn't even know where to go. Maybe… there was only one place Kurt hadn't showed him, and that was the area of the staff cabins. He could go there and pretend he had gotten lost if someone questioned him about it. And maybe, with a bit of luck, he would run into Sam.

 _Staff only_ , said the sign that Blaine pretended not to read as he continued walking towards the forbidden area. He could hear some music coming from a kind of small pavilion on top of some long stairs, and his curiosity only grew. What was going on there? Maybe the staff was having a little party? Maybe Sam would be there if that was the case…

So distracted was Blaine looking up that mysterious place that he almost missed Sebastian at the bottom of the stairs, his arms loaded with three enormous watermelons that he seemed to be having trouble to hold. Good, Sebastian had seemed nice enough that morning when they arrived, maybe he would help him.

"Hi" Blaine said as he hurried to meet him.

"What are you doing here?" Sebastian asked, turning to him in surprise.

"Oh, I was just taking a walk" Blaine answered, trying to sound casual.

"Go back" Sebastian ordered him, and he seemed kind of worried that Blaine was there.

"Let me help you" Blaine offered, taking one of the watermelons from Sebastian's arms to make his load more bearable.

"No" Sebastian retorted, and his gaze moved furtively towards the pavilion that Blaine so wanted to visit.

"What's up there?" he asked, trying to look as if he was just only curious and didn't care that much.

"No guests allowed, house rules"

"You said you'd show me around"

"Not around here!" Sebastian protested. "Why don't you go back to the playhouse? I saw you talking to the little boss man" Sebastian joked, sending a mischievous smile to the other boy before feeling guilty at the annoyed expression on Blaine's face. "Can you keep a secret? Your parents would kill you, and Mr. Hummel would kill me"

Blaine smiled as he saw that he had convinced the other boy to let him go with him –and he had just needed to feign he was offended and pout for like five seconds!–, and started following Sebastian up the stairs, all the way softly singing the song that played next in the distance, which he had heard on that radio station he only listened to at night in his room, as his parents didn't approve of it.

"You have an amazing voice" Sebastian said, immediately taking him out of his reverie until he ended up blushing at the compliment –as he hadn't even realized he was singing out loud.

"I just… love music" Blaine answered, making light of the situation, but he reciprocated Sebastian's smile as they reached their destination.

The noise of the music and the laughter inside could be clearly heard from outside even before Sebastian opened the door, and it was almost deafening when he finally did. Blaine's mouth felt comically open at what he saw: there were most of the staff he had been seeing throughout the day, but they almost didn't seem the same people. They were wearing their own clothes, and dancing like there was no tomorrow. But it was not the kind of dancing he had seen in the ballroom, that was for sure. Here couples were entangled together in an almost obscene way, bodys flushed together with no air between them, doing some moves that almost made him blush just by looking at them –after all, he was young and he had always been too busy with his studies to go out much, so everything he was seeing was surely new to him.

"Up for some fun?" Sebastian asked with a smirk, and Blaine realized he had probably been staring, so he just shook his head in response. "Come on, Killer"

Sebastian started making his way through the couples, most of them smiling at him when they saw him. Everyone looked quizzically at Blaine, though, because it was very very obvious how out of place he was there by his scared expression and his too formal clothes, but no one seemed to mind that much and continued with their dancing.

"Do you imagine a party like this on the main floor?" Sebastian asked, taking the watermelon from Blaine's hands as apparently they had reached the place to leave them. "Mr. Hummel would close the hotel down first"

Blaine thought he was going to faint when he noticed someone amongst the crowd: Sam was there. He was still wearing the smart outfit he had been using on his gig, though now his shirt was unbuttoned almost to his abdomen, leaving his perfectly sculpted chest exposed every time he so much as moved. And he was moving alright, Blaine realized with dismay: he was dancing with the beautiful girl who had sung with him, and being the center of the attention because of their uninhibited and sexy moves.

"That's my cousin, Sam Evans" Sebastian explained when he noticed Blaine was looking at the couple. "He got me the job here"

"They look great together" Blaine commented.

"Yeah. You'd think they were a couple, wouldn't you?"

"Well, aren't they?" Blaine asked, trying very hard not to show how excited he was at the notion –which was ridiculous anyway, because Sam seemed to feel too comfortable flirting with his friend even if they were not together to be gay, right?

"No, not since we were kids" Sebastian answered, apparently oblivious at the turmoil going on in Blaine's head. "Quinn is like a sister to him"

Sam and the blond girl continued dancing until at some point Sam seemed to see his cousin and smiled at him. But then he saw Blaine next to him, and he whispered something in the girl's ear before she turned to dance with other people and Sam started walking towards them.

Blaine's hands started getting sweaty and his heart accelerated when he saw Sam was coming to them. Sure, Sebastian had said he was his cousin, but he hadn't expected for him to leave his fun and come and meet them. Blaine's hand moved involuntarily towards his hair and he could have winced when he remembered he had decided to stop gelling his hair at least during the holidays. So that meant his curls were probably looking wild and ruffled right then, and not pointless flattening with his hand was going to help. Great, so that Adonis, that Greek God was coming to him and he probably looked like a hedgehog right now. Just great.

"Hey, Seb" Sam said, playfully punching Sebastian's arm. "What's he doing here?" he asked, pointing at Blaine with a not-so-subtle move of his head. Okay, he was gorgeous, but he didn't seem like the nicest man around.

"He came with me" Sebastian answered with a shrug of his shoulders, pretending to ignore the rule of "only staff" in their sacred place. He didn't seem that repentant, nor Sam seemed that surprised. Sebastian would probably often help young people in distress, he seemed to be that kind of guy. He probably was the kind of kid who would always take stray dogs home when he was little. "He's with me"

"I carried a watermelon" Blaine intervened, trying to help his friend, though he could have kicked himself at the stupidity of his words. Right, if he was trying to make a good impression…

"You shouldn't even be here" Sam said, turning accusingly at him. "How old are you?"

"I'm 21" Blaine lied, though the shaking of his voice clearly belied his words.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're only two years younger than me" Sam answered sarcastically as he looked quizzically at him.

But then he smirked cockily at him and without any kind of warning he grabbed Blaine's wrist and started pulling him towards the dance floor. Exhilarated and terrified in equal parts, Blaine looked back at Sebastian, begging for him to rescue him, but Sebastian only shrugged his shoulders and laughed, apparently quite used to his cousin's antics.

When he found the perfect spot on the dance floor that he seemed to be looking, Sam suddenly stopped in front of Blaine and again smirked at the nervous expression he could so easily detect on Blaine's face.

"And now we dance" Sam said, in the most seductive voice Blaine had ever heard –to the point it made his knees go weak.

Sam reduced the space between them and started dancing to the music as the natural that he was, doing something with his body, a kind of body-roll that accentuated every muscle of his body, that Blaine had never seen before. The younger boy couldn't bring himself to move, mesmerized about the other's movements, so Sam decided to torture him even further and grabbed his arms to make them rest on his shoulders, as his own hands closed around Blaine's waist.

"You are going to have to move, you know" Sam said, taking advantage of the closer proximity of their bodies to whisper teasingly in his ear.

Even before giving Blaine time to react, Sam resumed his dancing, only this time Blaine was in his arms and could feel every movement of his body, how their chests brushed against each other continually and how Sam's hips were moving dangerously close to his in a sexy rhythm that was driving Blaine crazy.

But he was not an idiot: he knew Sam was playing with him and it was quite obvious he was having a very good time with it. He probably did that often enough with stupid girls, he had to admit to himself. But Blaine wasn't willing to just be his toy: he was a proud man underneath his shyness, and the fact that Sam was just trying to mess up with him didn't mean he had to let him, right?

Blaine started dancing too, much to Sam's surprise, clumsily trying to imitate Sam's movements even if he was probably making a fool of himself. But Sam moved his hands a little lower to rest them on Blaine's hips and stopped him. Blaine was about to protest when he felt Sam's hands encourage him to move again, only this time they were gently guiding his moves, matching them with his own until Blaine let the rhythm flow through him and didn't need any guidance any more. Then Sam smiled at him –a different smile this time, not the judgmental smirk he constantly had on his face– and motioned for Blaine to put his arms around his shoulders again as he closed his arms much more closely around his waist this time, until their bodies melted together and their movements became one. Blaine forgot about everyone and everything that wasn't them as his body was deliciously squished against Sam's sturdier one, getting lost in his green eyes and a shy smile broke unannounced on his own lips.

But much too soon the song ended and Sam winked at him before disentangling himself from their embrace and getting lost amongst the other dancers, leaving Blaine trembling and alone in the middle of the dance floor, pretty sure he was never going to forget what had just happened.

* * *

Even with all the activities in the hotel, it was probably being one of the longest days of Blaine's life. Of course he had hardly gotten any sleep after having Sam's body pressed to him like that the night before, even if it was just for half a song. He was almost floating when he arrived back to his room, and it had been quite hard to convince Cooper that nothing had happened, than he had just met Sebastian and they had been chatting for a while. He didn't think he had fooled him, but for once Cooper had respected his privacy and had let go of it. And then he had spent like half an hour explaining his own adventures, though Blaine could barely concentrate enough to listen to him babbling about that Santana waitress as images of Sam's green eyes and firm chest filled his mind every few seconds.

A long bath on the lake with Cooper helped a little to calm his nerves, but only when the sun came down and dinner was over, Blaine was able to stop fidgeting, because he knew he was probably going to see Sam again, as he guessed he was going to be performing for the hotel guests again.

And fortunately he wasn't wrong. This time the gig was not in the ballroom, but under a beautiful marquee with a soft lightning that made it even more beautiful. Blaine was surprised –and glad– to see Sam on his own this time, with no sight of Quinn. That made his performance all the more intimate, as it was only him and his guitar, and as people danced to Sam's music, Blaine sat on a chair on the side, completely entranced with Sam's sound, so much that he didn't even notice Cooper looking quizzically at him.

After finishing one of his songs, Sam announced a little break, and Blaine started worrying when he noticed Kurt Hummel was walking to him as Sam left the stage and had a drink of water, because he had noticed a profound dislike from the Hummels towards Sam, Quinn and anyone who didn't come from the nicest family. So Kurt going to him could only mean trouble, so very discreetly Blaine left his chair and neared the two boys enough so he could hear what they were saying without it being too obvious.

"Where is Quinn?" Kurt asked the blond boy without even taking the time to greet him. "Everybody is asking for her"

"She's taking a break. She needs it" Sam answered just as coldly, as it was quite obvious that Kurt's disdain was mutual.

"As long as it's not an all-night break" Kurt warned him, but Blaine noticed how Sam refused to answer and turned to feign he was tuning his guitar.

Blaine didn't have time to react when he noticed Kurt turning to him this time –obviously, as he would have run on the opposite direction if he had–, so before he knew it, Kurt had thrown an arm around him and was gently taking him away.

"Come on, darling, let's take a walk" he said, don't giving Blaine any other option than to follow him.

"But I want to hear Sa… the rest of the gig" Blaine protested, stopping himself from saying his name in the last minute so it wouldn't sound as they were too familiar –the last thing he wanted was to make trouble for Sam with his bosses.

"Oh, knowing Sam he's going to take the longest break, don't worry. We'll be back for the second part" Kurt assured him, not giving up on his objective of having Blaine to himself, if only for a while.

Apparently there were still a lot of places Kurt hadn't showed him the day before –and damn, the complex was huge!–, so pretty much like the day before, they walked as Kurt talked and talked and Blaine pretended not to be too bored –though he was very aware of how he was not succeeding that much that day, but come on, he only wanted to see Sam playing his guitar again!

He had to admit that the place Kurt had taken him, and where they stopped for a minute, apparently to rest, was very beautiful. It was a small bridge over a stream from where you could see the lake and the mountains, and the views were really gorgeous. Blaine lazily leaned on the rail, intending to enjoy the views for a couple of minutes before saying he needed to come back before his parents worried, but was surprised when Kurt stood next to him, more closely than before, and again put his arm around his shoulders.

"We have a connection. Do you feel it too?" Kurt asked, as his hand moved to play with one of the curls on the back of Blaine's head in a gesture that seemed too intimate for Blaine's liking.

"My parents must be looking for me" Blaine said, pretending to turn his head towards the marquee as if looking for them, so Kurt would stop touching his hair.

"Blaine, don't worry" Kurt answered arrogantly. "If they think you're with me, they'll be the happiest parents in Hummel's. I'm pretty much of a catch, you know"

"No, they… why… why would they think that?" Blaine asked, tumbling over his own words at what Kurt seemed to be implying. How did he know…?

"Oh, you… you're not out?" Kurt asked, and Blaine thought it was totally rude of him to ask such a personal question when they were not even friends, so he didn't answer.

Kurt, though, must have understood it was a touchy issue, so he removed his arm from around Blaine and his arrogant smirk turned into a softer smile. Maybe he was not such a bad kid after all, just… insufferable.

"You hungry?" Kurt asked, and Blaine couldn't decipher if he was being honest or just pretending to, so he only shrugged his shoulders as an answer. "Come on"

Kurt took him to a little room that Blaine guessed it must be a staff room, as it contained a kitchen and some tables and chairs, probably where the employees rested on their free time or where they ate. At least that's what he imagined, because Kurt didn't even bother to turn on the lights.

"You can have anything you want" Kurt said as he opened the fridge.

The Hummel's son started reciting everything he could see in the fridge, hoping to spark Blaine's interest with anything –man, Blaine was surely not an easy date!–, but the younger boy's attention was caught when he seemed to hear some sniffles coming from the other end of the room. It was difficult to decipher where they were coming from just with the light from the fridge, but when Blaine's eyes finally adjusted to the semidarkness, he could see it was Quinn, trying to muffle her sobs as she sat on the floor. Blaine's heart broke immediately at the image, and even if he didn't know the girl, he imagined it had to be something very serious to have her breaking down like that.

"Listen, Kurt, thank you so much, but I really should go back" Blaine said, putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder to pull him away from the fridge and guide him to the door. "We can come back tomorrow and you can give me some of that pudding"

"Sure" Kurt answered, full of hope that Blaine seemed to be more receptive to him at last, even if he would just have to wait until next day.

Blaine got rid of Kurt as quick as he could and ran back to the marquee, hoping to find Sebastian because he knew he could trust him. And he was there indeed, making sure the electric equipment was ready for Sam to resume his performance.

Blaine ran to Sebastian and informed of the situation with Quinn. Sebastian immediately put on a worried frown and rushed to stop Sam before he made it back onstage. And, of course, as soon as he whispered what was happening on his ear, Sam completely forgot about his gig, and followed Sebastian to the little staff room where Blaine had seen Quinn last.

"Why is she here?" Sam asked, once the three of them were away from the marquee and practically running towards the staff room.

"I brought her in case Kurt would go to get her at her room" Sebastian answered as he ran at his side.

"Quinn just doesn't think" Sam retorted, speeding his walking even more.

"She wouldn't do anything stupid, would she?" Sebastian asked, with real fear in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, as he tried to keep up with the pace of the two taller boys. "What's the matter with her?"

"She's knocked up, Blaine" Sebastian explained before he was even aware of it, but he liked Blaine and he knew he could trust him.

"Sebastian!" Sam immediately admonished him, because it was clear that Sam didn't trust people like Blaine just as much.

"What's he going to do about it?" Blaine asked Sebastian almost in a whisper, but Sam heard him anyway and turned to him in anger.

"What's he going to do about it? Oh, it's mine, right? You instantly thought it was mine" Sam reproached him in rage, and it shamed and scared Blaine so much that he wasn't able to even apologize. But come on, even Sam should see it was the image they made. As Sebastian said the night before, they really looked like a couple.

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized they were already on the staff room until he heard Sam's sweet voice whispering a mantra of reassurances to Quinn's ear as he kneeled next to her and took her in his arms.

"I'll never let anything happen to you, Quinn" Blaine heard Sam say as he passed him by with her in his arms, and he could have cried at that tenderness of his voice that he wished would be directed at him. "It's okay, I'm here"

* * *

Blaine opened the door to the room that Sebastian had indicated to be Quinn's. He had gone to fetch some lime flower tea for the girl, and she was deeply engrossed on a conversation with Sam and Sebastian when he came back and handed it to the girl.

"Why are you so upset? If you're in trouble, you talk to me and I'll take care of it" Sam said, taking the tea from Blaine's hand almost without a look at him to offer it to his friend.

"Leave it, Sam, I can't take what's left of your salary" Quinn answered, apparently much more serene now that she was not alone, as she took the cup from Sam's hand and took a long sip from it.

"Quinn, that's my business" Sam protested, and Blaine couldn't help but admire him, so willing to help her even if she or her baby were not his responsibility.

"Besides… it wouldn't be enough. Oh, God, it's hopeless" she lamented, hiding her face behind her hands, although there was no doubt she was shedding more tears.

"Don't say that" Blaine couldn't stop himself from saying, even if she had never talked to the girl before, but he was incapable of seeing someone suffering like that and not trying to make it better. After all, it was how his father had raised him. "There's gotta be a way to work it out"

"Blaine. That's your name, right?" she asked, looking intently at him as if he had overstepped a line just by talking to her, and Blaine realized he had never felt more prejudged than how he did in Sam's and Quinn's presence. "Well, you know what? You don't know shit about my problems"

"I told him" Sebastian confessed, practically wincing about what he knew Quinn's reaction was going to be.

"Jesus, Sebastian, now he'll run and tell his little manager boyfriend and we'll all get fired" she reproached him. "Why not skywrite it, Quinn got knocked up by Puck the creep"

"Puck?" Blaine asked in surprise. It was not that he had the best impression of the waiter that had been assigned to them, or about his sister Santana –and the way she seemed to have charmed Cooper–. But this…

"No, no, Blaine" Sebastian quickly rushed to stand next to him to stop him, as the last thing they needed was for everyone to know what had happened –and Puck and Santana were family friends from the Hummels, after all.

"If you say anything about this to…" Sam started saying in a threatening way, but Blaine stopped him before he could finish.

"I'm not going to say anything, ok?" he answered in a proud tone, effectively cutting him off to everyone's surprise. He could understand their reticence to befriend someone with such different backgrounds, but he was getting sick and tired about paying for crimes he had not committed. Especially when he was only trying to help.

"One of the counselors knows a doctor, a real MD" Sebastian explained to Blaine, much more kindly than the other two, as he seemed to have taken quite a liking to the petite boy. "We can get her an appointment but it costs 250 dollars"

"But as a waiter Puck makes good money, right?" Blaine answered, turning to Quinn again. "And he comes from a good family. Maybe if you tell him…"

"He knows" Quinn answered, the disdain in her voice so obvious that this time it was Blaine who was left speechless. "Go back to your playpen, Blainey"

Blaine didn't even try to protest at Quinn's sarcastic comment, even though she had offended him. But she was in a very difficult situation, and Blaine could understand the last thing she wanted was some stupid kid without a clue about how the world turned telling her what to do. Sebastian looked apologetically at him, and Blaine half smiled at him to let him know it was okay. And just before he turned around to go, he looked at Sam for a second and he seemed to perceive some kind of sympathy or admiration for him, Blaine wasn't sure. But it felt good.

* * *

Of course Blaine was not going to let it rest just like that. When morning came and he didn't remember anymore about Sam's and Quinn's hurtful words, he went to the dining room where he knew the waiters and waitresses would be getting everything ready for the next meal to talk to Puck. And of course, the guy didn't care that much about what he had to say.

"Just where do you get off telling me what's right?" Puck protested as Blaine followed him with a pitch of water filling glasses, so it would look as if he was doing something instead of just telling Puck off.

 **"** You can't just leave her" Blaine insisted, not being able to believe how selfish some people could be. After all, he was just as responsible as Quinn about the situation she was now in, right?

 **"** I didn't spend all summer long toasting bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place" Puck contradicted him, and there was so much calmness and indifference in his voice that Blaine could very well see he didn't care about the situation at all. For all he knew, Quinn could very well disappear.

"Hey, little boy, what is this about?" Santana asked, suddenly appearing behind him.

"This is none of your business" Blaine answered, refusing to look as if they could scare him.

"Look, if Quinn was stupid enough to get herself in a situation like that, she's going to have to find her own way out of it" Santana added, making it perfectly clear that she was aware of the situation.

"How can you say that?" Blaine asked in astonishment. "Doesn't your brother have anything to do with that?"

"My brother is right, how can we be sure it's his?" Santana asked.

"Because she says so" Blaine protested and even though he was completely sure it was the truth, even he could see how lame his argument was.

"We all fool around a lot here, it's Summer!" Santana said, and it hurt Blaine's heart to think she might have been just playing with Cooper, as his brother seemed quite taken with her. "I'm sure she did that, she made a mistake and now she wants to burden my brother with it"

"She should have been more careful" Puck intervened again, and Blaine couldn't believe how easy it was for him to get all responsibility off him, just like that. "And I'm not going to pay for her mistakes, economically or any other way"

"You make me sick" Blaine said, looking alternately at the two siblings, clearly disgusted at what he was hearing. "Stay away from me and stay away from my brother or I'll have you fired" and with that, and throwing the rest of the water in his pitch on Puck's crotch, he was out.

* * *

Blaine hadn't expected his plan to fail, as he had been sure he would be able to convince Puck to take responsibility in Quinn's problem –he hadn't counted on him being such a poor excuse of human being–, so he wasn't sure how to proceed next, because just giving up never was a part of his plans. And who did he knew he could always go when he had a problem? His father, of course. He couldn't tell him, he couldn't ask for advice but… maybe he would lend them the money himself.

He immediately went toward the golf court where he knew his parents were supposed to be playing that morning, and he took advantage of the fact his mother was far away while trying to get the hang out of the game to approach his father, who immediately directed a smile at him when he saw him.

"Hey, Blaine" he greeted him. "Are you having fun today?"

"Dad, someone is in trouble" Blaine answered, not having the time for small conversation. "You always told me that if someone is in trouble I should try to help. Could you lend me 250 dollars?"

"Are you alright, Blaine?" Don asked, immediately worried, as Blaine was not like his brother and he didn't usually ask him for money –much less such a huge amount–. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, no, it's not me" Blaine answered with a small smile, trying to reassure his father that he was alright. "Could you lend them to me?"

"It's a lot of money, Blaine. What's it for?"

"I can't tell you. It's hard for me to say that to you, but I can't"

"You always said you could tell me anything" Don said, and Blaine could see he was more than a little hurt at his sudden lack of trust.

"I can't tell you this" Blaine reluctantly refused, his own heart breaking at his father's troubled expression.

"It's not illegal, is it?" Don asked, suddenly looking suspicious.

"No, Dad" Blaine answered with a feigned chuckle, as if it was a ridiculous question and he wasn't lying to him for the first time in his life.

"That was a stupid thing to ask, forgive me" Don Anderson said with a smile as he put his arm around his son's shoulders and half embraced him in apology –making Blaine feel even more guilty–. "I'll have it for you before dinner"

"Thanks" Blaine simply answered as he tried to give his father the best of his smiles.

* * *

Of course when night arrived, Blaine sneaked out of his cabin again after everyone was asleep and run to the pavilion where he knew all the staff would be partying –hopefully Quinn and Sam included–. He was so happy that he was going to be able to help her that he didn't even feel shy to cross to that forbidden area and didn't need Sebastian to take him up there with him that time. He had even dressed with less formal clothes this time, hoping to not feel so out of place, so with a confident stand he entered the place and started looking for them.

He awkwardly tried to make his way between the dozens of couples dancing in that peculiar and sexy way he had seen the other night –and he tried to erase the image of him dancing to Sam that way from his mind, because he very well knew Sam would never see him that way–, until he finally found them, unsurprisingly dancing together, as Sebastian stood having a beer only a couple of feet away from them.

Blaine shyly touched Quinn's shoulder to get her attention, and he visibly gulped when both Sam and Quinn turned towards him at the same time with identical questioning glances. But Blaine didn't falter, and with a smile he took the money his father had lent him and placed it on Quinn's hands.

"Here's the money"

"You mean Puck?" Quinn asked with an expectant smile once she was able to react and Blaine's heart broke at having to crush her hopes.

"No, you were right about him" he answered with a sympathetic smile.

"Then where did you get it?" Quinn insisted, even more confused than before.

"You said you needed it" Blaine answered, trying to diminish the importance of it, as the only thing he cared about was making sure Quinn would have what she needed.

"Is this kid for real?" Quinn asked, looking at Sam with an incredulous smile.

"Yes, takes a real saint to ask daddy" Sam answered, his voice full of sarcasm as he looked judgingly at Blaine, trying to decide if he could trust that obnoxious kid or not.

Blaine was starting to get really tired of Sam's attitude towards him. Yes, he could understand his disdain for wealthy people and the difference he could see between them both, but Blaine hadn't done anything to deserve that kind of treatment. He was sure his hurt had must shown on his face, because for a second –only for a second– a slight guilty expression crossed Sam's face, though it was gone as fast as it had come.

"Thanks, Blaine, but I can't use it" Quinn said as he gave Blaine the money back and turned to dance with Sam again.

"What? What's the matter with you, take the money" Sam whispered in her ear, though loud enough for Blaine to hear it, but Quinn only shook his head and kept dancing.

"Sebastian…" Blaine said as he offered the money to the other boy, knowing he could trust him with it to give it to Quinn and not take no for an answer.

"I can only get her an appointment for Thursday" Sebastian answered as he carefully put the money on his pocket. "But they have a gig at the Shelldrake at Thursday night and if they cancel they lose this season's salary and next year's gig"

"What's Shelldrake?"

"It's another hotel where they do a show"

"Can someone else fill in?" Blaine asked in a louder voice, so the other two would hear.

"No, Mr. Fix-it, nobody else can fill in" Sam answered, apparently quite fed up by then at Blaine's optimistic nature –he probably thought he was just a dreamer of a kid, like most people did–. "Everybody has to work, they can't rehearse. What, you wanna do it?"

"It's not a bad idea" Sebastian slowly answered, as if he was deeply thinking about it.

"It was a joke, Seb" Sam answered, almost chocking on his drink at the absurdity of the idea.

"He can sing" Sebastian insisted, as he had heard him and he had been marveled by the boy's voice.

"If he sings the same way he moves, that would be the dumbest idea I've ever heard" Sam contradicted him, chuckling as if trying to get Blaine to cover for Quinn was the most absurd idea he had ever heard.

"I don't even know the songs" Blaine said, looking gratefully at Sebastian for his trust as he tried to ignore Sam's hurtful words.

"Sam, you're a wonderful teacher, you can teach anybody" Quinn intervened, her opinion of Blaine changed drastically with his gesture –and happy that they might have found the perfect solution for their problems.

"But can you see him, he's a baby, he can't even talk without stuttering!" Sam protested, not talking directly at Blaine but loud enough for him to hear. "He can't do it, he cannot do it"

Sam was so concentrated on refusing the idea that he missed Blaine's sudden determined expression: enough was enough. He was not a baby and he surely could sing. Sam thought he couldn't do it? Well, he was going to show him otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

It was only the morning after when Blaine found himself waiting for Sam in one of the classrooms designated for music classes, only that it was impossibly early as Sam couldn't cancel any of his real and scheduled classes or it would look too suspicious, so they would have to rehearse before them. Blaine was nervous and sleepy, his head hurt and his stomach felt funny at the prospect of spending some alone time with Sam.

"Ok, neither one of us wants to be here, so at least let's try to get something good out of this" Sam said as he arrived and in a rush grabbed his guitar and stood in front of the younger boy.

"Is it going to be like this all the time?" Blaine retorted before he could stop himself. He had intended to get off to a good start, but that didn't mean he was willing to take any crap from the other boy. "Because I can just turn around and go so I don't force my insufferable presence on you"

Sam seemed surprised by his response and the more than slight anger behind it, so his posture relaxed and he looked at Blaine with a new expression that finally seemed to include some kind of respect towards him. Maybe that was it, he had just been waiting for Blaine to show some personality instead of just taking all the shit he threw at him.

"Ok, sorry" Sam apologized reluctantly. "And now let's see, Seb said you can sing but do you know something about music?"

"I play the piano"

"You do?" Sam asked in complete surprise. Maybe getting Blaine to replace Quinn wouldn't be so difficult after all.

"Yes, I've played all my life" Blaine answered with a shrug of shoulders. Even if it was only because it was common custom amongst children of wealthy family, his parents had enrolled him in the conservatory when he was little, and he had been a natural from the beginning.

"Well, you won't be able to play the piano in the gig because the Shelldrake doesn't have one that I know of, but it's nice to know you're familiar with music"

"Well, I am, so stop being so condescending and start teaching me the songs" Blaine answered, empowered by the fact that Sam didn't seem to think so little of him anymore. "That's the only reason I'm here after all, right?"

"Right" Sam answered, and if he didn't know any better, Blaine would have thought he had seen a hint of disappointment in his eyes as Blaine implied there was no other reason for him to be there.

* * *

The same routine went one for the following days: Blaine would meet Sam before his classes started and any other free time he could manage to find. Blaine's time was completely devoted to Sam's timetable and to their classes, and he had the impression he hardly saw his family at all anymore –though they respected him, because they thought he was having a great time and he was on a difficult age where he needed to find his place in the world–. His birthday had come and gone during those days and he hadn't had the time to celebrate it, even if your 18th birthday was supposed to be important, right? Even Cooper had hinted a couple of times how they never did anything together anymore, but Blaine had laughed it off and joked about how he only wanted him as a second fiddle when Santana was not around.

But even though they spent so much time practicing, things weren't going as great as they should. Sam was not teaching him the songs they were supposed to be singing, but focusing on the way he performed. Blaine had to admit he was right, as he only had any experience in classical music and had never sang in front of an audience before –only for himself with those songs he loved so much and that he had to listen to in the secrecy of his room–, so his ways were stiff and unnatural, and he didn't seem to be able to make any kind of feelings flow from his performance, as much as he tried. _The words are not enough_ , Sam had said like a thousand times. _Feel the music._ But Blaine was so worried about making mistakes and he concentrated so much that he knew he was missing the whole point of it.

One of those times when Blaine was feeling so frustrated, Sam stopped in front of him and spoke to him more honestly and kindly that he had done until then.

"It's not the guitar, it's not the chords, it's the feel, the heartbeat" Sam explained, and then he took Blaine's hand and brought it to his chest so he could feel his heartbeat. And then he covered Blaine's hand with his and gently beat onto it, as if it was his heart so Blaine could feel it more intensely.

Blaine's breath caught in his throat at the intimacy of the moment, at the feeling of Sam's hand on his. He had tried to stop thinking about Sam that way, but the fact that the older boy was slowly warming up to him and wasn't that harsh anymore wasn't making it any easier. Trying to follow Sam's example, he moved his own fingers to gently beat at Sam's chest too, but he could see he was again concentrating too much when Sam called him on it.

"Don't try so hard" Sam whispered to him, not wanting to ruin the moment with a loud voice, and then he grabbed Blaine's hand, still in his, and brought it to the guitar hanging from his neck. "Feel the music" he said as he brought Blaine's fingers to the strings and moved them so he was the one creating the music, so he could feel the vibration of it in his skin.

Sam was a very strict and demanding teacher, and Blaine knew he was not going to stop until he got exactly what he wanted from him. Which was not a problem for Blaine most of the times, as he had never been one to run away from challenges. But sometimes Sam would still get too carried away and would pay his frustrations with him in the form of harsh words and reproaches that Blaine was not willing to take anymore.

"Stop thinking so much, I can practically hear your thoughts"

"I wasn't doing it" Blaine protested, as it was not true this time and Sam was just being too stupid.

"Listen, if you don't stop…" Sam tried to admonish him again, but Blaine was not having any of that.

"I wasn't doing it" he repeated, a little louder and much more confident than before, effectively putting an end to the conversation as Sam looked surprisedly at him.

Sometimes Quinn would be there too, if one of her classes got cancelled, and she was more patient with Blaine as she tried to teach him all her parts as Sam looked at them and offered some advice here and then.

Even if their relationship was still tense sometimes, especially when the day of the gig was coming closer and Sam got increasingly frustrated that Blaine wasn't doing what he thought he should be doing, they spent so many hours together that all thoughts of modesty and formalism were gone from their minds, and more often than not Sam would end up losing his t-shirt and exposing his perfect muscles and sweaty chest when it was too hot. And those were the times where Blaine would lose concentration more easily, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing since Sam only wanted him to enjoy the music and get carried away with it. In the end, though, even Blaine lost his shirt a couple of times, and he probably was going crazy or something because he could have sworn Sam would discreetly check him over every time he did it.

Sam also gave him some tips about how to move on stage, as standing rooted to the floor while hiding behind the mic stand was not an option. Blaine seemed to be very self-aware as Sam put on some music and asked him to act as if he was the artist performing that song. In fact, he was moving in such a clumsy and ridiculous way that he ended accidentally hitting Sam on his face with his arm as he hadn't realized he was standing behind him.

"Sorry" Blaine immediately apologized, shyly resting his hand on Sam's shoulder to check that he was alright.

"You're trying to kill me?" Sam reproached him angrily as he rubbed on his painful chin. Because if they had been warming to each other for the last days, he still had a quick temper that frustration only seemed to make it worse. "You gotta concentrate! Is that your idea of fun?"

Ok, that was enough. He had reached his limit, Blaine knew. He was just as tired and frustrated as Sam himself, and he was only doing it to help them. He was not going to take Sam's anger on top of everything else.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is" Blaine answered, equally loud, in a sarcastic tone that surprised the other. "We're supposed to do the show in two days, you won't show me the lyrics, I'm not sure about the melodies, I'm doing all this to save your ass when what I really want to do is drop you on it!"

Sam stood speechless in front of him, the pain on his chin already forgotten as he looked at the small boy with something very similar to admiration in his eyes. So the little guy had some nerve… And he was right after all: he had been rehearsing with Sam for days without a single complaint, putting up with his moods, when he was not even going to get anything in exchange. Maybe he had judged him the wrong way.

"Then let's get out of here" Sam answered in a calmer tone, suddenly having a wonderful idea.

Ignoring Blaine's confusion, he took a hooded jacket and threw it on Blaine's direction so he could shelter himself from the pouring rain falling outside –ok, so maybe he was an asshole, but he was still a gentleman–, not caring about getting drenched himself. He hung his guitar from his shoulder, he motioned for Blaine to follow, and they practically ran towards where Sam's car was parked a few yards away.

Sam was about to open the door when he noticed he didn't have his keys with him. He tried to open the door anyway but of course it was locked.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, slapping his hands against the roof of the car. "I locked the keys inside!"

Blaine looked questioningly at him, as if asking him if they should go back inside, but Sam had other ideas: he turned around himself, looking all around him, until he saw a rock big enough. Without a second thought, he grabbed it and hit with it one of the back windows of his car repeatedly until it broke, and then he was able to get his hand in and open the passenger door.

"You're getting wet" he said with a smirk as he motioned with his hand for Blaine to get into the car, to which Blaine immediately complied with a little smile of his own before hurrying to open the other door for Sam from inside.

"You're wild" Blaine tentatively commented once Sam started the car and began driving.

"What?" Sam asked, not sure he had heard correctly.

"You're wild" Blaine replied more confidently this time, before bursting out laughing.

Sam looked at Blaine for a second while he laughed, and he couldn't help but breaking into a fond smile himself at how adorable the younger boy looked when he got rid of his impeccable stance. And he decided he would like to bring out that part of him more often to hear that perfect and dorky laugh again.

* * *

Sam refused to explain where they were going during the whole trip, which only took them about half an hour before he got out of the main road and drove his car along a secondary little path between some trees. Fortunately the weather was clearer there and the shy rays of sunlight making their way through the trees only made the place even more beautiful.

"This is the same lake you can see from Hummel's" he explained as he and Blaine got out of the car and he again threw his guitar's strap around his shoulder. "Only in a more private part of it. There are no buildings or anything around here. Just nature"

"And what are we doing here?" Blaine asked curiously, surprised at the breathtaking beauty of the place.

"I thought this could be a good place to relax and… connect with ourselves. You know, through nature" Sam explained, blushing at what he thought would sound lame to an urbanite like Blaine probably was.

"It's a great idea" Blaine answered with a grateful smile. He knew they had to perform in only two days and there was still a lot of work to do, but he was tired, and stressed, and resting in a beautiful place like that –with only the company of the most handsome man he had ever met– seemed like a very good idea.

Sam smiled back at him, glad that Blaine seemed to appreciate his efforts to stop being a jackass, and before he knew it, he was taking Blaine's hand in his –inevitably making his heart race like crazy– and leading him towards a secluded part of the forest.

"Come with me" he said casually, as if he was unaware of much his actions were affecting the other boy.

Sam didn't let go of him until they had reached what seemed to be Sam's favorite place in the world, judging by the relaxed and content expression on his face, which Blaine had never seen before. Unfortunately, Sam let go of his hand then and sat down, leaving his guitar next to him, so Blaine quickly followed.

"I love this place" Sam said in the softest voice, almost as if he was talking to himself.

"It's really beautiful" Blaine agreed, equally low, as if afraid of perturbing the pace of the moment.

"So what do you do?" Sam suddenly asked, as if he had suddenly remembered he was not alone. "I feel like you are the only person I've seen for days yet I hardly know anything about you"

"I'm starting college in the fall" Blaine explained, the butterflies in his stomach going crazy at the fact that, for once, Sam was starting a conversation with him just for the sake of it. And if that wasn't enough, he was implying he wanted to know him better.

"Oh?" Sam exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. "And what are you majoring on?"

"I… I still don't know" Blaine answered with a shrug of shoulders, still kind of shy around Sam, as if he was expecting him to jump at his throat at any second. But he didn't.

Quite the contrary. There was a newfound kindness in his eyes, and he sounded gentle and honestly interested in what Blaine had to say. Maybe that place really affected him. Or maybe –finally– he was starting to see him as something other than a stupid kid.

"You don't?" Sam asked, sounding confused. "You don't seem like the hesitant kind to me"

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, also confused.

"You seem pretty sure about everything" Sam answered, and for once he didn't sound as if he was judging him –he sounded almost as if he admired him–. "And especially about what you want and what you are"

"Well… I do know what I want to do" Blaine admitted, his gaze lowering to the ground and the blush on his cheeks accentuating at being the center of attention in their conversation –because he would have never imagined someone like Sam, someone as perfect as he was, wanting to know about him like that.

"Oh?" Sam exclaimed, somewhat encouraging to keep talking.

"I'd like to major in theatre and musicology" Blaine admitted, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders at finally confessing completely about his most inner dream to someone. "There's this amazing academy in New York called NYADA, and even though I told no one about it, I've been accepted. It's always been kind of my dream"

"Then?"

"My father doesn't look very kind on that choice of career… He wants me to be a doctor, like he is"

"But shouldn't you be doing what you want, and not what your father wants?" Sam asked, smiling kindly at the other boy when he finally turned to look at him.

"It's kind of a tradition in the family to be a doctor, you know?" Blaine explained, sadly reciprocating Sam's smile.

"Your brother isn't" Sam pointedly reminded him, eliciting a chuckle from the younger boy.

"Well, my brother is kind of the black sheep of the family, no one expects him to" Blaine added with a fond shake of his head for his adored big brother.

"Yet he gets to do what he wants, right? And you have to follow your father's steps just because you're his perfect little boy?" Sam said, and he didn't realize how harsh that had sounded until he noticed the hurt look on Blaine's eyes –he had done it again, right?– and he hurried to apologize. "I was not trying to make fun of you, I'm sorry. On the contrary, I meant it isn't fair that just because you're a good and responsible boy you don't get to work on your passion"

"I know" Blaine agreed with a sigh. "I still might try to convince him, though"

"Or you can do it without his approval, you know" Sam added, chuckling at the adorable innocence of the boy in front of him even if that meant he still had so much to learn. "I know it's hard to go against your parents' wishes, but… sometimes you have to do it"

"You sound like you did" Blaine answered, and Sam marveled at how observant he was.

"I did" Sam admitted with a nod of his head, not embarrassed to open his heart to Blaine now that it was his turn. "My parents couldn't pay for me to go to college, and I was too bad of a student to get a scholarship and… I couldn't see myself doing it anyway. But they wanted me to get a steady job back in Kentucky, or to get into the house painting family business. But I just cared about music, you know? It's just… it hasn't gone all that well yet, but I'm still hoping someday it will. And even if it never works out, I'm still doing what I want to do in life, however hard it is"

"You could come to college with me" Blaine joked, feeling more and more comfortable with their conversation as Sam gratefully laughed with him.

"If it's about music I could think about it" Sam joked back before turning serious again. "I know my parents love me and everything, but they don't approve of what I do. They would prefer for me to have more of a decent and stable life, you know"

"Parents are difficult sometimes" Blaine complained with a pout that elicited another chuckle from the blond boy at how adorable he looked like that –and yes, he was aware of how many times he had thought about how adorable Blaine was, but… well, he was.

"But you seem to have a very good relationship with your father" Sam made an observation.

"I do, I really do" Blaine quickly agreed, as it was quite evident how much he adored his father. "But sometimes I wonder if it's just because he…"

"He what?" Sam encouraged Blaine to continue when he noticed the latter failing to put his feelings into words.

"He doesn't really know me" Blaine explained, his voice turning soft again so Sam could tell it was some kind of issue for him. "He just loves that version of myself he created"

"What do you mean with that? What is it that he doesn't know about you?" Sam asked, doubting there could be anything in that sweet boy that could make a parent stop loving him.

"Can I tell you something I've never told anyone?" Blaine asked, and he looked so serious that Sam would have never had the heart to refuse.

"Sure, you can trust me" Sam encouraged him, realizing how special it made him feel that Blaine would trust him with something he had never trusted anyone with before.

"I'm… I'm gay" Blaine finally said, his voice faltering away with his confession.

"Alright" Sam said in an understanding voice.

"Aren't you going to freak out?" Blaine asked, as if he couldn't believe that Sam was still sitting next to him and hadn't run away by then.

"Why would I freak out?"

"I don't know. I've always expected people to freak out. At least where I live. That's why I've never told anyone"

Sam watched as Blaine lowered his gaze again and brought his knees to his chest, as if somehow he was trying to make himself smaller until he disappeared. He knew Blaine had made a huge effort to tell him something like that, as it was probably the first time he had said it out loud, so he couldn't just ignore it or pretend it wasn't a big deal. Knowing he could offer him some wisdom acquired through the years that Blaine hadn't had the chance to get yet, Sam stood up and walked all the way to Blaine's side to sit next to him and rest a gentle hand on Blaine's shoulder.

"Blaine, it changes nothing" he honestly said, squeezing Blaine's shoulder comprehensively before letting go of him. "You're still the same person you were yesterday. And… I can't say I didn't suspect something"

"Really?" Blaine asked in astonishment, turning to look at him.

"It must be my gaydar" Sam joked, chuckling as the surprise in Blaine's face only seemed to grow.

"What?" was the only thing Blaine was able to say.

"Blaine, I'm bi" Sam said with a reassuring smile, wanting to let Blaine know he was not alone. "I thought you knew that. I left it pretty clear when we danced together the night you arrived, right?"

"I thought you were just teasing me" Blaine responded.

"Oh, I was" Sam replied with a laugh. "But that doesn't mean I was not having a good time too, you know? You're kind of cute, even if you're such a nuisance"

The shy smile at Blaine's lips, mixed with the crimson on his cheeks, was probably the sweetest image Sam had ever seen. And knowing he had been the one to elicit it made it all the more special. Blaine was honest, innocent and caring, and he probably had the biggest heart ever. And all of that was so obvious that Sam wondered how it had taken him so long to see it. Or maybe he was subconsciously stopping himself from seeing it, because he was afraid of the way he felt? Because he thought that he and Blaine were too different to work and he didn't want to risk falling for him?

Another look at Blaine's beautiful face and he discovered he was still smiling, even if he was not blushing anymore. He looked more like he was… calm. Content.

"What?" Sam asked with a confused smile.

"Nothing" Blaine answered, chuckling happily. "It just feels good to be able to talk about this with someone"

"Well, maybe you should give people a chance" Sam advised him, hating to think how lonely Blaine must have felt for the longest time. "You might be surprised"

"Maybe I'll start with my brother" Blaine suggested, knowing that if there was someone who might support him without any kind of judgment, that would be Cooper.

"That's probably a good idea" Sam agreed, nodding his head at him.

"Thank you, Sam" Blaine offered with a grateful smile, and he sounded so honest that for a moment Sam's heart stopped beating.

"You're welcome, B" he answered, once again patting Blaine's shoulder in a tender gesture.

"B?" Blaine asked with an amused frown.

"It suits you" Sam answered, shrugging his shoulders casually.

"So you giving me nicknames means that we are friends now?" Blaine reluctantly asked, trying to sound as if he was joking, though Sam could see into it. Damn it, he had been unfair with the kid…

"I'll… give it some thought" he joked, and both of them laughed together for what felt the first time of many. "And now enough with sentimentalities, let's start with the reason we came here, shall we?"

Sam picked up his guitar and rested it on his lap, ready to start his lesson.

"Take your shoes off" Sam ordered out of the blue.

"Why?" Blaine asked in surprise, even though he hurried to comply.

"Because you need to feel the ground under your feet" Sam explained as he also removed his own shoes. "I want you to forget about anything else that is not the music, ok? Lie down on the grass"

Blaine smiled questioningly but once again he obeyed and let himself fall until he was lying all the way on the grass, his knees bended so he could keep the palm of his feet on the ground, as Sam had asked him too.

"Close your eyes and breathe deeply a couple of times" Sam continued, smiling to himself as he watched the other boy doing everything that he asked, trusting him completely. "And now try to empty your mind of all thoughts. Just hear the music of my guitar and start singing when you feel it's the right moment"

Both of them fell into silence as Blaine obeyed and breathed as deeply as he dared, feeling a sense of peace and contentment he hadn't felt for a long time, probably since he was little. He could feel the sweet dampness of the grass under him and the warmth of a ray of light breaking through the trees and resting on his foot. He could feel the silence of the place, but above all he could feel Sam's proximity, even if he wasn't near enough to feel the warmth from his body. And when Sam's fingers started working their magic on the strings on his guitar, Blaine finally understood what Sam had meant about letting the music flow through his body, and it was a feeling he would not easily forget. He let the music play a few seconds and then he started singing softly, easily, as if he had been born to it.

While the song lasted he forgot about absolutely everything that wasn't the music and the person playing it. And when he finished and he finally opened his eyes, the proud smile he found on Sam's lips told him he had finally made it.

"That was amazing" Sam whispered after a few second of just staring into each other's eyes.

"Was it?" Blaine asked, his heart full of hope and excitement as he sat up.

"You tell me" Sam answered, encouraging him to be the one to realize what he had accomplished and be proud of it.

"It was good" Blaine admitted with a little blush.

"It was more than good" Sam added. "And now I've seen what you have in you, I'm not going to accept any less than that, ok?"

"Okay" Blaine answered with a chuckle as he willed his heart to stop beating because it felt like it was going to give him a heart attack.

"Ok, so you can certainly sing with all the emotion in the world, we've both seen that" Sam continued as he rose on his feet and shook the dust out of his pants. "But you still need to learn to move on stage"

"Yeah" Blaine replied with a frustrated sigh while he took Sam's offered hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

"You need to let go of yourself, to stop being so stiff"

"I'm not stiff!"

"Oh, you are" Sam replied with a chuckle at Blaine's mockingly indignant expression. "So see those rocks up there above the lake? We are going there and we are going to jump to the water and we are going to do it in the most ridiculous ways we can imagine. We are going to make complete fools of ourselves until you forget about what embarrassment is"

"No, Sam, I…" Blaine immediately refused. Ok, so he was indeed stiff, he could admit that, so making a fool of himself, especially in front of Sam, was not something he was looking forward to.

"You have a better idea to get over your shyness?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows at him as if he daring him to say something.

"No" Blaine reluctantly admitted.

"So come on!" Sam happily said as he picked Blaine's hand again and got him running towards the place, making him suspect that had been the main purpose of the trip all along.

As soon as they arrived Sam let go of him to take his t-shirt off and for one terrifying moment Blaine thought he was going to completely strip naked in front of him –he didn't think he could survive that–. But no, he only took his t-shirt off and stood in front of him, arms akimbo, as if waiting for him to do something.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to get your shirt off?"

"I don't want to get into the lake" Blaine protested.

"It's either without shirt or with it, you choose"

Blaine sighed in surrender as he started unbuttoning his shirt, trying to ignore Sam's winning grin. But when he took it off, and he could feel Sam's eyes all over his body as he folded the piece of clothing and carefully left it on the floor, it wasn't so difficult to ignore –and he was probably blushing anyway, so…

"Ok then, after you" Sam said, signaling towards the rock they were supposed to jump from.

"Oh no no no, you first" Blaine said as he took some steps backwards after looking at the height they were standing at. Great, now he was not only embarrassed, but scared too.

"If I jump first you will flee and we both know it"

"If you don't jump first there is no way I'm going into the water"

"Oh, there is a way, believe me"

Before Blaine knew what was happening, Sam took advantage of his small stature to pick him up in his arms as if he weighted nothing and without a second warning he walked back to the edge and threw Blaine into the water, laughing his ass off at the pathetic scream that escaped Blaine's throat at finding himself flying.

Sam's laughter died on his throat when Blaine took a moment to emerge from the water again, and terrified he might have gotten hurt, Sam was about to jump when Blaine finally came to the surface spilling a lot of water from his mouth as he tried to regain his breath at how cold the water was.

"You okay?" Sam asked, his heart slowly returning to its normal pace at seeing the other boy was safe and sound.

"You bastard!" Blaine yelled once the shivering let him, taking his wet hair out of his face.

"Oh, look who's not that well-mannered when he's wet!" Sam replied, trying hard not to laugh at Blaine's annoyed stance.

"That was foul play!" Blaine protested, rubbing his forearms in an attempt of warming up a little.

"Yet it worked! You should have heard how hilarious your shriek was!"

"Very funny"

"Watch out!" Sam yelled before he took a run-up and jumped.

Blaine thought Sam probably did that often enough, judging by the meticulous precision with which he landed right at his side –enough to splash a wave of water on him– but not on top of him.

"Fuck, it's cold!" Sam exclaimed when he emerged, vigorously shaking his long hair.

"You don't say!" Blaine sarcastically replied, making Sam look amusedly at him and throw another wave of water right on his face. "Oh, so that's the way things are?"

Sam laughed as Blaine got out of the water in a jump and climbed on to the rocks as nimbly as a cat, all fear obviously gone from his body at the prospect of some fooling around –Sam guessed he spent so much time trying to be perfect that sometimes he forgot to have fun–. Also taking a run-up, Blaine jumped and bended his legs until he turned into a ball, making a big splash fall on Sam when he touched the water next to him.

"That was good!" Sam had to admit when Blaine laughed, quite proud of what he had accomplished. "You forgot about making a fool of yourself, though, which was the whole purpose of this. Watch me"

Sam went back to their jumping place and didn't even stop to think before he was already jumping while giving the loudest and most ridiculous scream ever, much to Blaine's delight, who couldn't stop laughing. And then it was his turn, and this time he jumped while crazily shaking his arms and legs, wanting to scream like Sam had done but unable to do it because he couldn't stop laughing.

And laughing he continued even after going into the water and his head breaking to the surface again, so much that he could hardly keep himself above the water so Sam took pity on him and took him in his arms to take him to the shore so he could rest on his feet. And he kept his arms around him in a loose embrace while Blaine tried to regain his breath between laughs, his own lips breaking into the widest smile ever at Blaine's contagious laughter and joy, and at the way his nose wrinkled when he laughed and how the whole scenario around them seemed to light with his smile.

It wasn't until his laughter started dying that he realized that Sam's arms were around his waist and his own arms had somehow found their way around the blond's neck in a way that it made him almost hung from him, their naked chest colliding at every breath they took. Trying to look casual, Blaine set his feet more firmly on the ground so he didn't need to lean on Sam and broke the embrace, ignoring the longing on his chest at having lost the warmth of Sam's. He smiled embarrassedly at him, which Sam quickly reciprocated, his eyes filled with something that Blaine couldn't identify but sent shivers all along his body.

"You're shivering" Sam commented as he reached for Blaine's upper arms and started rubbing them in a kind attempt of warming him up.

"It's cold" Blaine stupidly answered, even if that was only half the reason he was shivering.

"Let's get out of the water, come on" Sam suggested, taking Blaine's hand in his again even if this time was only to walk at his side and not to pull him along.

They moved a bit away from the lake in search of the last remains of sunlight in the late afternoon. Of course they hadn't brought any towels with them and they were dripping with water. There was no way they could go back to the hotel in that state, so Blaine just let himself fall to the ground again and lay down on his back, stretching his limbs impossibly with a content smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked from his still standing place, as he looked at the other boy, feeling a very familiar now stirring in his heart at his beauty, both inside and out, and he shook his head in amusement as he watched him, shirtless, barefoot and drenched, just lying around in the middle of nowhere with a smile on his face.

"I'm drying under the sun, duh" he answered, because he thought it was pretty obvious.

"You look ridiculous" Sam said, even if he couldn't stop himself from smiling fondly at him.

"Who's the stiff one now?" Blaine asked, not needing to open his eyes knowing his challenge was going to make Sam lie down next to him in a matter of seconds.

Of course Sam wasn't going to let Blaine win on this, so he immediately lay down next to him and stretched both arms and legs like the shorter boy had done, trying not to laugh at the smug smile on Blaine's face as he looked at him.

"Ok, this is nicer than it looked" Sam admitted when he started feeling the warmth of the sun on his chest –a warmth that only got more accentuated when Blaine chuckled at his side.

"I know" Blaine agreed as he closed his eyes again and he started softly singing a song, almost whispering it, though Sam could hear it alright.

 _There's a calm surrender to the rush of day  
When the heat of the rolling wind can be turned away  
An enchanted moment, and it sees me through  
It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you_

 _And can you feel the love tonight  
It is where we are  
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer  
That we got this far  
And can you feel the love tonight  
How it's laid to rest  
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds  
Believe the very best_

"That's a really beautiful song" Sam whispered once Blaine's voice faltered, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Thanks" Blaine answered, his cheeks turning red immediately at the appraisal, almost as if he hadn't realized he had been singing out loud until that moment.

"What, you wrote it?" Sam asked in astonishment. There was no way that little boy had written a song like that, was it?

"Mm… yeah, some time ago" Blaine explained embarrassedly. "It just came to my mind now, I don't know why"

But Sam knew why. He very well could imagine how Blaine was feeling after the day they had just spent together, because he was feeling the same way himself. He felt closer to the other boy than he had ever done to anyone before, even if it may be just the heat of the moment. He felt as if he was invincible, as if there was nothing he could do. As long as Blaine was at his side, of course. So the song fitted the mood perfectly.

Sam knew he was not going to see Blaine with the same eyes after that day, even if he had been getting to know him more deeply for days know. There was something about him… At his age he shouldn't be like that, right? He should be only thinking about having fun and meeting hot boys and going to college so he wasn't under his parent's roof anymore and he could party all the time, right? But Blaine wasn't like that: there was a deepness and a maturity in him that made him look as if he was older, even if his looks were those of a kid. And there was so much kindness and warmth and… love in him that Sam felt as if he could keep discovering and admiring him until the end of time.

"Well, it's amazing" Sam felt the need to reinforce his admiration.

"Thanks" Blaine answered, nervously biting on his bottom lip even as he smiled.

"Any other hidden talents I should know about?"

"No, that's pretty much it"

"I don't believe it" Sam answered, making Blaine blush even more furiously, because come on, that boy was full of surprises!

They fell into a companionable silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts and everything they were feeling after the day they had just shared. And when Blaine brought his previously stretched arms closer to his body, Sam took advantage of it to get nearer until they were practically touching.

Sam had to smile at the picture of contentment that Blaine was right then, with that little calm smile decorating his lips as his face turned towards the sun, eyes closed and the palm of his hands resting against the grass under him. And it wasn't until his face fell a little to the side that Sam realized he was falling asleep. Chuckling to himself, Sam knew he couldn't leave him to take a nap, as it was pretty late anyway and he didn't know what time his parents were expecting him to go back. And after the way Blaine had trusted him that day, the least he could do was to look after him.

"Hey, kiddo" Sam softly said so as not to scare him awake as he gently shook his shoulder.

"What?" Blaine asked in confusion as he lazily stretched his limbs –another thing he shared with cats, apparently.

"You were falling asleep" Sam said as he sat up, pulling on Blaine's arm to get him up with him.

"I wasn't" Blaine protested with a frown, even if both of them knew he was lying.

"Your hair looks really funny right now" Sam said with a chuckle as he looked at Blaine's usually well-kept curls, now all sticking up in different directions.

"Oh, shit! Really?" Blaine said with a terrified expression as his fingers unsuccessfully moved to flatten it.

"In a good way" Sam assured him, grabbing Blaine's wrists to get his hands to stop, as he was just making it worse. "It's adorable"

"Oh my God, how could I let you convince me of having a bath?"

"Well, I didn't exactly convince you, I threw you into the water, remember?"

"I hate you" Blaine said even if a smile was already breaking into the corner of his lips and his hands had yet to move from Sam's grip.

"I hate you too" Sam answered with a smile, before he got on his feet and brought Blaine up with him through the grip on his wrists. "We should get going, or your parents will kill me"

"Oh, if they find out I've been out of the hotel the whole day without previous notice they will kill me first" Blaine contradicted him as they walked to the car, passing by the first spot they had sat in to retrieve their shoes and Sam's guitar.

"Blaine, I'm sorry, I didn't think about that, I should have asked…" Sam tried to apologize, hardly able to believe himself and how he hadn't even thought about that. But Blaine was so composed and mature that Sam sometimes forgot how young he really was.

"No, don't worry, Cooper will cover for me, I'm sure" Blaine answered, not sounding really worried, though maybe he just didn't want for Sam to feel guilty. "And besides… it was fun. Even if they catch me… it was worth it"

Sam stopped for a moment before they reached the car just to look into Blaine's once again blushing face and offer him the best of his smiles, before he walked all the way to the passenger side to gallantly open the door for him.

"I had a great time too" he confessed, fearing he was probably blushing too.

"Really?" Blaine asked as he got into the car, and Sam lamented once again how much of a jerk he had been to him that every nice thing he tried to say to Blaine surprised him so much.

"Yeah. Do you think I just bring anyone to my sacred place?" Sam answered, only half joking, before making all the way to the other side and getting into the car himself.

"We made some progress today, right?" Blaine asked in a hopeful voice after a couple of minutes of silence as Sam drove back to Hummel's.

"We made a great progress today, B" Sam answered, the gig they were rehearsing for the last thing on his mind.

* * *

Next day everything felt different. Blaine didn't want to read too much into things but… he was not imagining things, right? Sam had really changed his attitude towards him. A lot. He didn't seem to consider him a stupid and annoying little kid anymore. Yesterday he almost seemed as if he… admired him. As if he appreciated him. Sometimes it even seemed… no, Blaine, stop, don't do that to yourself. There is no way a Greek God like Sam could have more than friendly feelings for someone like you.

But even then, Blaine felt everything was different when he entered first thing in the morning in the classroom where Sam was already waiting for him.

"Hey" Blaine shyly said to catch Sam's attention, as he was very concentrated in tuning his guitar.

"Hey!" Sam answered, immediately letting his guitar down and standing up, as if he wanted to welcome Blaine with all the attention he deserved. "I was afraid you wouldn't come today. You know, because your parents had grounded you"

"No, Cooper is the best, he told them I had been with him the whole day" Blaine explained as he shrugged his shoulders, awkwardly moving from foot to foot as he stood in front of Sam. Which was ridiculous, by the way, they had been rehearsing together for days, why couldn't they just act as they had done until now? "And he even said he was not going to ask where I was until I was ready to tell him myself"

"Wow, he looks cool" Sam exclaimed, nodding his head in appreciation of Cooper's gesture.

"He is, he's the best, maybe I can introduce you to him someday" Blaine enthusiastically said before he realized how stupid that thought was: in just a few more days, they would be gone from the hotel and he would probably never see Sam again. "I mean…"

"I'd like to" Sam interrupted him, as he had been thinking exactly the same and didn't want to go there. At least not yet.

"Well, should we get started?" Blaine suggested as he finally walked further into the room, just so he would have something to do.

"Yes, but first…" Sam said as he awkwardly followed the other boy. "I wanted to apologize"

"Why?" Blaine turned to his in surprise.

"Because I've been kind of…" Sam tried to find the right word to define his behavior until then, but Blaine beat him to it.

"Grumpy?" he tried with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, that" Sam agreed with a laugh. "I'm supposed to be a teacher, and I did it all the wrong way. You were right, I haven't been teaching you the songs"

"Well, you can do it now" Blaine answered, implicitly forgiving Sam for everything, even though he didn't think there was any need for that.

"You probably know most of them, anyway, we are supposed to play popular songs, as you know" Sam explained as he picked up his guitar again and motioned for Blaine to sit on the floor in front of him.

"Yeah, I had imagined that"

"The Shelldrake is a bit more open than Hummel's, though, so I would like to play one original song. One I wrote, if you agree"

"Sure, of course" Blaine agreed with no hesitation.

"And… I would like you to sing it" Sam shyly added, almost begging for Blaine to grant him his wish.

"Me?" Blaine asked in utter astonishment. "It's your song, why don't you sing it?"

"Because I think it would go amazing with your voice" Sam explained, hoping he was not blushing too much. "You're an amazing singer"

"But Sam…" Blaine tried to protest. After all, Blaine was only a temporary substitute for Quinn, Sam was the real artist.

"Consider it a payment for your patience" Sam interrupted him, showing him how he was not going to take no as an answer.

"It would be an honor" Blaine accepted after a short silence, his heart beating at a wild peace just because of the way Sam was looking at him.

"You wanna hear it?"

"Yes, please"

Sam nodded with a grateful smile as he firmly took his guitar and his fingers immediately started caressing the strings. Blaine closed his eyes and sighed, willing himself to open his mind and his heart to it as Sam had taught him to do. Although there was really no need for that, because the melody Sam was creating was so incredibly beautiful there was no way he could not feel it.

 _If ever you wondered_ _  
If you touched my soul, yes you do  
Since I met you I'm not the same  
You bring life to everything I do_

 _Just the way you say hello  
With one touch I can't let go  
Never thought I'd fall in love  
With you_

 _Because of you, my life has changed  
Thank you for the love and joy you bring  
Because of you, I feel no shame  
I'll tell the world it's because of you_

 _Sometimes I get lonely  
And all I gotta do is think of you  
You captured something inside of me  
You make all of my dreams come true_

 _It's not enough that you love me for me, yeah  
You reached inside and touched me eternally  
I love you best explains how I feel  
For you_

 _Because of you, my life has changed  
Thank you for the love and joy you bring  
Because of you, I feel no shame  
I'll tell the world it's because of you_

 _The magic in your eyes, true love I can't deny  
When you hold me I just lose control  
I want you to know that I'm never letting go  
You mean so much to me I want the world to see  
It's because of you_

 _Because of you_

"Sam, this is beautiful" Blaine exclaimed after a whole minute trying to control his emotions, not wanting to spill the tears he could feel threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it, because you're singing it, remember?" Sam answered, dismissing Blaine's appraisal as he got up to get something from the table. "I wrote down the words for you so you can learn them"

Blaine followed Sam with his gaze around the room, sighing in sadness while he wished Sam would feel for him what he had once felt for someone to write a song like that to them.

* * *

"I can't believe it's tonight" Blaine nervously commented as Quinn walked with him to where they kept some clothes the employees of the hotel used for their different performances, hoping they would find something for Blaine to wear on their performance in just a few hours.

"Shelldrake it's 20 minutes away" Quinn said, resting her hand on Blaine's shoulder in an attempt of calming him down. "You can change in the car"

Blaine was about to reply when they noticed one of the hotel guests, Sue Sylvester, tripping right in front of them and almost falling on her face, though in the end she could recover enough and the only thing that ended up falling was her purse.

Blaine, being the gentleman that he was, immediately hurried to pick everything up, as all the contents of the purse had been spread on the floor: make up, tissues, a couple of wallets, a water bottle… Not wanting to pry on her privacy, Blaine scooped everything and got it back in the purse almost without looking.

"Here" he said as he handed the purse to the woman.

"Thank you, youngun" she said, not sounding that grateful, but Blaine had seen enough about her to know she was not the nicest lady around. "And now if you'll excuse me…"

"What a strange lady" Quinn commented once Sue disappeared, and Blaine just shrugged his shoulders in response before getting in the room Quinn was showing him too.

Quinn was a good stylist, and didn't take her a lot of time to find the perfect clothes for Blaine to wear that night, classy but with a hint of risk on them that made Blaine look incredible and very far away of his usual good-boy image.

"You look great" Quinn said as he looked at his reflection in the mirror in front of them.

"You think so?" Blaine asked with a nervous smile.

"Please, you're a hotty!" Quinn answered, making the other laugh and blush at the same time. "Get up on this stool, I'm going to do the cuffs"

Blaine obeyed and stood still while Quinn worked around him so it wouldn't be too obvious that Blaine was wearing some hand-me-downs in their performance. After all, it was an important gig, and they needed to do it well if they wanted to continue with their contract next summer.

"So you've got the whole tracklist figured out?" Quinn asked as she worked.

"Yes, we do" Blaine answered. "All covers except for one: Sam asked me to sing _Because of you_ for him"

"To sing what?" Quinn asked in surprise.

"One of his original songs" Blaine explained, surprised she didn't know about the song given how close she was with Sam.

"Sweetie, I know all of his original songs and I've never heard of that" Quinn answered with a confused frown, although of course she didn't make an issue of it. "He must have written it recently. Very recently"

Blaine's breath caught in his throat at Quinn's words. Could it be…? No, it was not possible. But what it Sam had written that song just the night before, after both of them spending the day together? Maybe that's why he hadn't mentioned about including it in the gig before?

"There" Quinn took him out of his reverie when she finished fixing his clothes, smiling proudly at him. "You are going to do so great"

"What if I forget the words?" Blaine asked, revealing his deepest fear.

"Then you stop for a minute, breathe deeply and look at Sam, and he will help you" Quinn advised him, smiling fondly at him.

"I'm afraid of making a mess, forgetting about to breathe and end up falling on my face" Blaine confessed, only half joking because it was not the first time that thought went through his head, though he changed his mind when he look at Quinn's amused face. "Ok, but I won't. I'm going to do great, I'm going to hold my head high, and feel the music inside of me, and just let the words flow…"

"Thanks, Blaine" Quinn honestly said, turning serious all of a sudden. "I'm sorry if I was a bitch to you at the beginning, I was just…"

"I know" Blaine stopped her, not really needing an apology, before he turned to her and signaled at his own body. "So how do I look?"

"You look so handsome" Quinn said, but Blaine was horrified at seeing some tears forming in Quinn's eyes.

"Hey, what wrong?" he asked.

"I'm scared, Blaine. I'm so scared" she confessed, breaking into sobs and letting herself be wrapped in Blaine's comforting arms.

"You'll be fine" he said before kissing the top of her head. Because Quinn was a good girl and she only deserved good things happening to her. He was sure of that.

* * *

Of course Blaine couldn't just leave at night without saying anything. Nor could he ask his parents for permission because he couldn't tell them where he was going. He hated doing it, but he didn't have another option than to lie. And he would need Cooper's help for that.

So when the time for dinner arrived, and Blaine was sure his parents would already be waiting for them at the table, he searched for Cooper –he was always late, so he didn't need to worry he would already be in the dining room– and found him fooling around with Santana –which Blaine hated, but he didn't have the time for that now– before she kissed him and went back inside to continue with her job. And Blaine took that as his cue to stop Cooper before he got inside and pulled him from his arm to take him a little to the side.

"Coop, you've got to do something for me" Blaine said as he grabbed Cooper's arm to stop him before he followed their parents into the dining room.

"Ooh, that sounds interesting, what is it?" Cooper asked, with an amused smile.

"Just tell Mum and Dad that I'm sick and I went to bed, and check on me once, okay?" Blaine quickly said and turned around to run, but this time it was Cooper who stopped him with a hand to his arm.

"Wait a minute, Blaine" Cooper said, sounding almost as if he was worried about all the mystery of lately. After all, they had never had secrets with each other before. "Where are you going?"

"I can't talk right now, Coop, just do me this favor, please" Blaine pleaded, giving Cooper his best version of puppy eyes that he knew his brother could hardly ever resist.

"But B…"

"Please, Coop"

"Is it worth it?" Cooper asked with a resigned sigh that told Blaine he had won.

"Yes" he answered with such enthusiasm that Cooper could only nod his head at him.

"You and I are going to have a little talk one of these days" Cooper warned him, pointing his finger at Blaine's face to make more of an impression.

"We will, I promise, just… not now, I'm in a hurry"

"Ok, then go"

"Thanks, Coop, you're the best" Blaine said as he hurriedly gave his brother a hug and then started running like a madman.

"You owe me one!" Cooper shouted at him, fondly shaking his head.

"I will make it up to you, I promise!" Blaine screamed back over his shoulder.

"Ah, young love" Cooper joked to himself as he watched his little brother run away from him. Though he probably wasn't that little anymore…

* * *

Blaine felt his knees shaking as he waited on the stage in the dark to be presented. The sound system was ready, and Sam's guitar was lying next to the stool he would be using. Blaine breathed deeply a couple of times, trying to calm his nerves, fearing he was going to pass out any moment until he felt Sam's hand closing around his and his hot breath on his neck as Sam bended over to whisper in his ear.

"Relax, you're going to do great" he said, looking intently at him until Blaine nodded.

"Welcome tonight, ladies and gentleman" a voice announced through the speakers, making Blaine jump out of his skin. "The Shelldrake hotel is proud to present Sam Evans and partner!"

Sam squeezed his hand again before letting go of it and then the lights of the stage were switched on to discover them to the audience, spread around the place on dozens of tables. Blaine breathed deeply one more time and then he smiled, following Sam to the center of the stage.

The first song was a solo from Sam and he would be the backup singer. They had decided that it would be a nice way to start, so Sam, who was already a professional, would break the ice and Blaine would have more time to get slowly into it.

Not for the first time, Blaine wished he had been able to play the piano, as he could have easily hidden behind it and everything would be so much easier. But it was not an option, and Blaine had to man up and be confident. He knew he could do it, Sam had said so. And if Sam trusted him… who was he to contradict him, right?

Song after song they played, and Blaine grew more confident with each passing moment, especially every time Sam would turn to him and give him one of those smiles of his that made him feel he could touch the sky if he really tried. His nerves had vanished, and he was starting to enjoy the performance as if he had been born to do it. Just for a moment, he closed his eyes and imagined the grass under him, connecting him with the ground, while Sam played his guitar only for him. And he let the music flow through his veins like Sam had taught him. And he wished that moment would never end.

They had planned to leave Sam's original song for the last, as Blaine had insisted it was just too special and amazing to be just one more of them –and Sam had let himself be convinced by Blaine's sweet excitement–. Blaine firmly put his feet on the ground and stood behind his mic, ready to give the best of himself for Sam, because he had given that song to him to sing and he was not going to disappoint him.

With only the sound of Sam's guitar filling the ballroom of the Shelldrake hotel, Blaine took a deep breath and looked at the other boy as if to send him a silent message that he was going to do it right. But when Sam's eyes met his, Blaine saw something there, raw and powerful, something that had been glimmering there since the day at the lake but was now clear as day: Sam had written that song for him. Sam felt something for him.

Blaine was so shocked and overwhelmed at the discovery that he missed his cue to start singing. As much as he tried, he couldn't possibly remember the first words to it or how to even move his lips to articulate any sound. That wasn't supposed to happen; he wasn't supposed to ruin Sam's song; he wasn't supposed to break his trust.

But far from being angry or disappointed at him, the next time Blaine looked fearfully at Sam the blond was patiently smiling at him and, with a reassuring nod to him, he started singing. He only needed to sing two verses for Blaine's brain to start functioning again, and he joined Sam on the third. Only Sam didn't stop, and continuing singing with him, making the song into a duet in which they never stopped looking into each other's eyes the whole time.

And they remained looking into each other's eyes even after the song ended, and even when the audience started applauding. Of course Sam was a professional and was the first to react, so he let his guitar on the floor, took Blaine's hand strongly into his and moved to the edge of the stage to take a bow.

And that's when they saw that Sue Sylvester lady from Hummel's being accompanied to one of the tables closer to the stage by a waiter, as apparently she had just arrived to have a drink at the place. Blaine looked worriedly at Sam, because no one was supposed to know he was there. Sam reciprocated his worried look, bowed again and quickly pulled of Blaine's hand and got him out of sight before that woman raised his gaze and could recognize him.

* * *

The trip back to Hummel's in Sam's car started as the previous one had, with Blaine changing back into his own clothes in the back seat as Sam drove –though he couldn't help sending furtive glances at the younger boy every now and then through the rear mirror as Blaine got changed.

"You did good, you worked hard" Sam said, breaking the silence, so he could get distracted from the feelings that looking at the shirtless boy was giving him.

"When I saw that woman from Hummel's I thought that was it" Blaine answered with a nervous chuckle, completely oblivious to Sam's inner turmoil.

"Oh, me too!" Sam answered with a laugh as he turned to look at him before he remembered he wasn't supposed to look, so he turned his face back to the road, hoping Blaine hadn't noticed his blushing. Better to keep a light conversation. "You really killed the second to last song"

"But I went blank in the last one" Blaine lamented as he finished buttoning his shirt.

"It doesn't matter, we fixed it" Sam immediately reassured him in complete honesty, because Blaine had been terrific.

Blaine jumped over the seats once he was finished dressing so he could sit in the front with Sam, and they smiled at each other when their gazes met again. If the day at the lake had changed the dynamic between them, that duet had been another turning point for them for sure, as they were more aware of each other's feelings and… maybe they were ready to give it a try.

When they were back at the hotel and Sam parked his car, he hurried to go out and walk to the other side while Blaine tried to fix his hair as he looked at his reflection on the rear mirror. But as soon as Sam opened the door for him –which was something he apparently loved to do–, Blaine immediately forgot about his hair and let Sam take his hand and help him out, unable to keep a smile out of his face at all the attentions.

Everything was so silent and there was so little light under the stars that they felt as if they were the only people in the world. And of course they didn't need anybody else as they got lost in each other's eyes again for a second, before Sam started leaning into Blaine slowly, as if giving Blaine time to retreat if he wanted. But Blaine just smiled approvingly at him, and Sam was about to let their lips touch when someone came running to them in a frenzy and interrupted them.

"Sam! It's Quinn" Sebastian shouted as he came to his cousin and pulled on his arm, desperate to make him follow.

Of course he didn't need to worry, because as soon as Sam heard about his friend he started running himself, so Blaine and Sebastian could only follow.

"She didn't want to do anything until you got back" Sebastian explained in a rush as they reached Quinn's room.

Sam almost screamed in terror as he saw the state of his friend: Quinn was covered in sweat and writhing in pain, and Sam only needed to brush her arm to notice she had a very high fever.

"You didn't call an ambulance?" Sam reproached him as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"She said the hospital would call the police, she made me promise" Sebastian tried to justify himself, and even through his anger Sam could see he had a point. "He didn't use no ether, nothing"

"I thought you said he was a real MD" Blaine said, turning to Sebastian without trying to sound reproachful.

"That guy had a dirty knife and a folding table" Sebastian replied, obviously upset and feeling more than a little guilty. "I could hear her screaming from the hallway and I swear to God, Sam, I tried to get in, I tried"

Blaine never got to hear Sam's answer as he left the room and ran like the devil towards his own cabin. He knew a real MD, the best of them, and that was his father. He would get him and he would save Quinn's life. The fact that he would get to know about Blaine's escapades didn't even cross his mind in his rush to help Quinn.

"Dad" Blaine whispered as he silently entered his parents' room and knelt next to the bed to gently shook his father awake. "Dad, I need your help"

"What is it?" Don asked, his eyes only half open still. "Is it Cooper?"

"No" Blaine didn't offer any other explanation as he moved away from the bed to give his father room to get out from it.

"Let's go" Don decidedly answered as he picked up his medical bag and followed his son, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas.

Father and son didn't exchange a word in all the way to Quinn's room as they ran, and for the love of God that Don Anderson didn't have a clue about what was happening or where Blaine was taking him. Or how did Blaine know something was happening at that time of night. But he trusted his son and he preferred to give him the benefit of doubt. They would have time for explanations later.

Blaine showed him to the little that was Quinn's room, and that it was exactly the same as the others for the staff, and Don Anderson immediately took care of the situation and started getting people out of the way –as most of Quinn' and Sam's friend were there–.

"Excuse me. Everybody get out, please" he said in a calm but authoritarian voice, and he even pushed Sam aside so he could take his place on the bed's edge and take care of the obviously suffering girl. "Ok, I know it hurts, but we better take care of that"

Don started rummaging through his bag and he easily found a little bottle that probably was some kind of painkiller.

"Who's responsible for this girl?" he asked, not raising his gaze from the girl while he administered the medicine.

"I am" Sam immediately answered, unsurprisingly, as he was the closest person Quinn had in her life. "Please, is she…?"

Blaine hurried to comfort Sam when his voice faltered, full of fear and guilt that he had let that happen and other million thoughts going into his head. Blaine stood at his side and rested one hand on his shoulders as the other hand held onto the opposite biceps, hoping to offer some reassurance.

And that's how Don Anderson saw them when he turned to look judgingly at that Sam guy, who apparently had knocked up that poor girl and sent her to a fake doctor to send his problem away, and on top of that somehow had managed to get Blaine's interest. This wasn't at all the kind of acquaintances he wanted for his son, who was younger than all those people and because of that so much impressionable than any of them. So that's where he had been spending all his days away… And when had he become so close to that guy to embrace him like that? Were they like best friends now or what?

Needing some space and intimacy to work on his patient, who was his main priority right now, he ushered everyone else from the room, and Blaine didn't miss the disappointed look he sent at him that made him feel as the most dishonest person in the world. And he was, he thought as they waited just outside Quinn's bungalow: he had been chaining one lie after another to help Sam and Quinn when they needed it. But who was he trying to kid? He had lied to be with Sam, to spend every possible minute of the day with him. And he had never lied to his father before of that.

And what was going to happen between Sam and him now? Now that they didn't have the rehearsing excuse? Now that his father knew about it and was surely going to oppose to them spending time together? Now that Blaine felt so intensely for him that he couldn't almost function, and he was starting to believe Sam felt it too?

His thoughts were interrupted when his father finally came out of the room. He didn't need to speak for Blaine to see exactly what was going on in his head.

"Doc, thanks a lot" Sebastian said, effusively shaking Don's hand in gratitude.

"Doctor Anderson" Sam said, offering his hand for Don to take too. "I don't know how to thank you…"

But Don ignored him. Just like that, he sent a killer look at him and rejected his offer for a handshake as he not-so-gently pushed Blaine away from those people to get him walking towards their cabin, in a way that Blaine could only look backwards for a second to see quite a devastated look in Sam's eyes before he went back into Quinn's room to be with her.

"Is that what my money paid for?" his father asked in an angry tone as Blaine rushed to keep up with his father's furious pace.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you" Blaine immediately apologized, even though he knew no words were going to make the situation better at that point.

"You're not the person I thought you were, Blaine" Don retorted, and the disappointment in his voice hurt even worse than the previous anger. "I'm not sure who you are… but I don't want you to have anything to do with those people again"

"Can I just explain…?" Blaine tried, because as sorry as he felt about everything, he still thought his father was being unreasonable, and hadn't he always loved to say how close they were and how they could talk about anything? Where was that now?

"Nothing!" Don answered, turning in anger to him. "You will have nothing to do with any of them ever again!" Don breathed deeply before he continued talking, trying to calm himself down before he said anything he would really regret. "I won't tell your mother about this. I'm now going to bed"

Blaine watched his father go, as angry and disappointed as he had ever seen him, and Blaine's heart broke. But what really brought tears to his eyes was the memory of the expression on Sam's face that night, with his dear friend injured like that and Blaine's father forbidding him to see him again. And Blaine felt like the most terrible person ever about the fact that he was going to keep lying and disobeying his father, but there was no way he could stay away from that boy. Especially not when he knew Sam needed him that night.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, and after Quinn had fallen asleep and one of the girls had assured him she was going to spend the night with her, Sam finally decided to go back to his own room on top of that little slope. It was probably an uglier room, but he preferred it because it gave him that space he always seemed to crave so much, that privacy he needed every now and then. Or that he had needed until Blaine had appeared in his life and turned it all around. Now being alone was the last thing he wanted.

After everything that had happened that night, and after seeing Quinn so bad, the only thing he wanted was to lie down on his bed with Blaine, and for the petite boy to hold him in his arms and tell him that everything would be alright in that naïve and adorable way he always did. Because if someone could make him believe things would get better, that was Blaine. But he was not there anymore.

Sam switched on his record player just so he wouldn't be absorbed by that terrifying silence, and only bothered to take of his shirt before he let himself fall on his bed, too tired and upset to care about anything else.

He felt so troubled he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep that night, in spite of how exhausted he felt. The state Quinn had been in… The worry that what had happened would end up reaching Burt Hummel's ears –Dr. Anderson was a good friend of his after all, right?–… and Blaine. Above all, he couldn't get Blaine out of his head.

He could almost laugh at himself for falling for a young boy like that. Come on, he almost could be considered a teenager still, about to start college, right? And he was one of those people he would have never wanted to deal with, a rich daddy's boy that didn't know what real life was about. Except that he wasn't.

Sure, he had money –or his dad did–. And sure, they came from completely different worlds: Blaine was cultured, refined, impossibly correct. And Sam was… well, he was way simpler than that. But what if they did? Hadn't Blaine completely adapted to their lifestyles and jobs and even their behaviors in just a few days, as if he was one of them? Hadn't he left everything aside, even his own vacation, just to save their asses, without getting anything in exchange? And that even considering both he and Quinn had treated him like shit at the beginning. But he had never reproached them for that and had never judged them –something they both had done with him.

Sam smiled fondly at how stubborn the small boy was. You just needed to tell him he couldn't do something and you had him trying it only a second later. And God, he was talented! When Sebastian had said he could sing, he would have never imagined he would be such a great artist. And how he completely got lost into his music when he played the piano, and that song of his he once had sung for him… And the way he had owned the stage just a couple of hours ago… Just before being brought back to reality and coming back to find Quinn on the brink of death and having the guts to run and get his father in spite of what that might cost him. In fact, he was probably not going to see him again if the image he had of Blaine's father was correct…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the door of his cabin. With a tired sigh, he got up from his bed and went to open the door. It was probably Sebastian, coming to see how he was after the Quinn ordeal, maybe ask him how the gig had gone. But wait, Sebastian wouldn't knock, right?

"Can I come in?"

And there he was, beautiful and young Blaine, looking like the picture of innocence as he shyly stood at his door, remains of redness in his eyes that told Sam he had maybe shed some tears before deciding to come all the way to his door. It took almost a minute for Sam to remember Blaine had made a question and, even though he didn't answer, he moved aside and motioned with his hand for him to enter, suddenly very aware of how shirtless he was.

"Mmm… I guess this is not a great room, you probably have a much more beautiful room" Sam apologized, feeling very self conscious about how pathetic his place looked, with hardly any decorations and untidy to an unprecedented extent.

"No, it's a great room" Blaine answered in a soft voice as he nervously changed his weight from one foot to the other, and Sam thought that he probably really meant it and he was not just being polite.

Intending to make the situation less awkward, Sam moved to take some clothes from the only chair he had in the room and invited Blaine to sit with a gesture, to which Blaine immediately complied. Then Sam moved to his record player with the intention of turning it off, but Blaine stopped him first.

"No, leave it on" he requested, even if he seemed embarrassed about giving him an order immediately after he did it.

"Ok" Sam agreed as he half sat, half leaned on the desk behind him, facing the other boy and encouraging him that way to say what he needed to say.

"I'm sorry about the way my father treated you" Blaine started, and he seemed genuinely worried that Sam might have been hurt by the harsh treatment of his father.

"No, your father was great" Sam immediately contradicted him, as the last thing he wanted was for the boy to feel bad about something which he had no control over, especially after everything he had done for him. "He was… so great, the way he took care of Quinn…"

"Yes, but I mean the way he was with you" Blaine interrupted him, because he was not going to let Sam pretend he hadn't been hurt. Hadn't he just thought about how stubborn he was? "It's really me it has to do with"

Sam nodded in understanding and sympathy. So Blaine was in trouble after all… He had probably sneaked out again to come see him. And it was all his fault.

"Sam, I came here because my father…" Blaine started again.

"No, the way he saved her… I could never do anything like that… And the reason people treat me like a nothing it's because I'm nothing" Sam lamented before he could stop himself. He didn't want to look weak in front of Blaine, but there was something in that boy that always made him lower his guard, that made him open his heart before he was even aware of doing it.

"That's not true!" Blaine answered, raising his voice in anger, as if that was the biggest offense he had ever heard, even if it wasn't directed at him. "You're… you're everything"

"You don't understand the way it is to be someone like me" Sam explained, trying not to show how moved he was by Blaine's words. After all, he needed to be the responsible one here, and send Blaine away for his own good. "Last month I could hardly keep myself alive and now women are stuffing diamonds in my pockets. I'm balancing on shit, and as quick as that I could be down there again"

"No, it's not the way it is, it doesn't have to be that way" Blaine answered, and there was so much conviction in his voice that Sam felt really tempted to believe him.

"I've never known anybody like you" Sam said, unable to keep the admiration he felt for the boy out of his voice. "You look at the world and you think you can make it better. Somebody is lost and you find them, someone is bleeding and…"

"Yeah, I go get my daddy, that's really brave, like you said" Blaine retorted in an annoyed tone, and Sam felt bad that he had made him think he was mocking him again.

"It took a lot of guts to go to him!" Sam contradicted him, wanting him to know how much he respected him for that. "You are not scared of anything!"

"Me? I'm scared of everything!" Blaine protested forcefully, and Sam was horrified to see his eyes getting glassy with unshed tears. "I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am… And most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you"

Sam remained immobile and quiet, unable to get out of his stupor at Blaine's confession, about the actual proof that his feelings for the short boy were being reciprocated. Blaine also fell silent, blushing furiously at the way he had exposed himself without even meaning too –or maybe it had been his purpose from the beginning when he had come to his room, Sam didn't know–. What he knew was that Blaine was probably the bravest person he had ever met, and he only needed to take a deep breath to pluck up the courage to stand and come closer to Sam until he was standing right in front of him.

"Dance with me" Blaine said, his voice no more than a whisper in spite of the confidence in his tone.

"What, here?" Sam asked, more as a way of gaining some time to think for an answer than anything else, but Blaine just took his hand as an answer and pulled him until he was standing up too.

More decidedly that Sam would have given him credit for, Blaine lightly rested his hands on Sam's biceps as a way to break the ice, and started moving so slightly that it was almost imperceptible. Sam hesitated, because his plan had been to send Blaine away and not complicating his life any further, but the look on Blaine's eyes, full of longing and emotion, begging him to dance with him, was making it to difficult to resist. And when Blaine's hands ran through his naked skin all the way to his shoulders and his fingers got purposefully entangled with the hair on the back of his head, Sam couldn't resist it anymore and closed his arms around Blaine's torso, bringing him impossibly close to his chest.

Blaine smiled almost unnoticeably as he also strengthened the circle of his arms around Sam's neck and let himself be rocked by Sam's inherently seductive moves, noticing every one of his muscles perfectly pressed against his. It was almost too much, and Blaine took advantage of their height difference to touch his lips to the skin under Sam's jaw, feeling a delicious warmth spreading on his chest at the light moan he elicited.

Once his lips tasted Sam's skin it was as if he couldn't stop, and he disentangled from Sam's still hesitant embrace to walk all around him, leaving butterfly kisses on the back of his shoulder, between his shoulder blades –where he stopped to gently nibble Sam's skin for a second– and his other shoulder, his hand shyly but decidedly cupping the roundness of Sam's butt before coming to stand in front of him again.

Of course by then Sam was too turned on to think about anything that wasn't the beautiful boy in front of him, and he tenderly picked his arms and lifted them up above his head to trace their skin all the way down with the tip of his fingers until his waist, where he found the hem of his t-shirt and very carefully rolled it up passed his head and his still risen arms until he got rid of it and threw it away, not caring where it disappeared to. And when finally Blaine's skin was exposed like that, Sam's hands moved on their own accord to travel every inch of his back while he tenderly held him in his arms, and it was only a second later when their mouths finally found each other and they joined their lips in a sweet kiss that seemed to last an eternity.

Blaine was sure he had never felt anything like that before, especially when Sam broke the kiss and his lips moved to trace a path down his neck, giving slow kisses and gentle bites all along until they reached his chest. Blaine shivered at the contrast of Sam's teasing breath on his hot skin, and Sam smiled fondly at him before going all the way up again to hold him more strongly against him again and capture his lips in his once more, as he surely wanted to feel them again.

They continued rocking their bodies to the music as they got lost in each other's taste, only separating every now and then to get some much needed air, even if they resumed their kiss immediately after, as if they couldn't have enough of that. And when Sam felt his knees starting to go weak with all the emotions running through his veins, he gently pushed Blaine with his body towards the bed, until the younger boy was lying on his back and Sam carefully climbed onto him, both of them groaning in spite of themselves at the perfect alignment on their bodies and the brush of their all-too-sensitive skins.

Sam broke the kiss for a moment to look intently at the other boy, silently asking him for permission to go any further because he imagined Blaine wasn't exactly an expert on the matter. But Blaine immediately understood his hesitation and with a grateful smile he nodded at him, letting him know he was sure about what he wanted. Sam couldn't help but to reciprocate his smile –he couldn't help it, Blaine's smile always got him like that– before kissing the curly-haired boy again, putting all his emotions on that kiss so Blaine would know how wanted he was and how he was going to take care of him. And when Blaine's hands started wandering around his back in the sweetest caresses, going lower and lower on his body every time, Sam couldn't prolong it anymore and his hands moved to untie Blaine's belt, his heart beating faster than ever when he felt the other boy tingle with anticipation. And one last look into the golden eyes of that beautiful creature reminded him how screwed he was just before his lips again travelled to Blaine's chest and abdomen and Blaine threw his head back as the loudest and most exquisite moan escaped his lips, going directly to Sam's already vulnerable heart.

* * *

Blaine woke up with a smile on his lips even if he hadn't gotten up nearly enough sleep after going back from Sam's room to his family's cabin almost at dawn. He contemplated telling everyone he was still ill from last night so he could remain in bed for a couple more hours, but then he remembered that his father knew perfectly well he was not ill and staying in bed would only make him angrier. Though as hard as he tried, Blaine couldn't bring himself to care that much, as his mind kept going back to Sam and to everything that had happened just a few hours ago. How he had been so careful and sweet, and how he had made him feel so loved and special. How he had embraced him afterwards and kept him from falling asleep so he would go back to his cabin before he got himself into further trouble. How he had offered to accompany him because it was so late and dark and something could happen to him, to the point that Blaine had to convince him that being seen near his cabin would only complicate things farther. How he had kissed him so lovingly as a goodbye that he almost left him breathless. And how he had stayed at his door watching Blaine go with a smile on his face until he could see he no more –Blaine had been looking back just as much.

He was smiling again when Cooper, who was already up, entered in their shared bedroom in his loud usual manner.

"Rise and shine, Squirt!" he shouted until he noticed the expression in his face. "What are you smiling at?"

"I'm not" Blaine immediately denied, covering his face with his pillow because he was, in fact, still grinning like an idiot.

"You so are" Cooper laughed as he sat on the edge of his bed and took the pillow from him.

"That was just your imagination" Blaine answered, glad that his brother's playful actions falsely justified his smile.

"Don't think I've forgotten for a second about that conversation you and I urgently need to have" Cooper said, pointing his finger threateningly at Blaine's face. "You're just lucky Dad wants us to go and have breakfast all together for once right now, so you better hurry up and get ready. He's in a bad mood"

"Is he?" Blaine asked, his mood falling drastically in an instant. His hopes that his father might not make an issue about what had happened vanished all of a sudden.

"The worst I've seen in a long time, so come on, don't fuel it" Cooper encouraged him as he playfully hit him with the pillow right on his face.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Blaine protested as he obeyed.

And his father was in a bad mood alright. He said something about being tired of everyone going their own way, that it was supposed to be a family vacation and that they were going to share all their meals, starting today.

Of course it wasn't exactly a happy meal. Even though Angelica and Cooper didn't have a clue about what was happening, they could easily feel the tension on the table, and everybody was afraid of talking in case they ended up regretting it.

Just when Blaine thought things couldn't get worse, he saw Kurt Hummel coming to them, with a folder in his hands.

"Good morning, family" he greeted them, completely oblivious to the sour moods. "This is your lucky day! Auditions for the Hummel's annual end of the season talent show are beginning in the playhouse!"

"Yay!" Cooper happily exclaimed, as he would never miss an opportunity to make a show.

"So is everyone going to be in the show?" Kurt asked.

"No, we're leaving tomorrow, to avoid the weekend traffic" Don Anderson answered in a serious tone, eliciting some very shocked expressions around the table.

Except Blaine's. He hadn't been expecting it, but he couldn't say he was all that surprised. After all, the disappointment he had seen in his father's eyes last night had made Blaine see how everything had affected his father. Though what he didn't know was if leaving sooner than expected was his way of punishing him or he was just looking after him in his own way and trying to make sure he wouldn't keep in contact with those people.

"But Don, we paid until Sunday" Angelica reminded his husband, looking at him in confusion.

"We'll miss the show" Cooper protested.

"I said we're leaving tomorrow" Don repeated angrily.

"But I was going to sing in the show!" Cooper insisted, looking utterly devastated.

"It's the social event of the season! Everybody is going to have a great time, you don't want to miss it! Oh, Blaine, I'm going to need your help" Kurt tried to convince them before he left them.

"Don, why do you want to leave early?" Angelica asked in an understanding voice, guessing his husband had to have a powerful reason for that sudden change of plans.

"It was just an idea, but we can stay if you want to" Don answered, much more calmly this time as he reconsidered his decision. After all, nor his wife or Cooper were at fault of anything. "So Cooper, what were you planning to sing?"

"I don't know, I'll have to think about conscientiously, you know, it's not every day when you…" Blaine stopped hearing his brother's speech as both their father and him left the table as they talked about it. And it was killing Blaine just to think that maybe he would never have that kind of relationship with his father again.

"You ok, sweetie?" his mother asked, obviously worried about his sad expression.

"Sure, I'm just… sleepy, I guess" Blaine answered with a reassuring smile to his mother.

* * *

After the disastrous breakfast, Blaine was feeling too restless to be at the cabin –plus he didn't think being around his father for the time being was the best thing to do–. He thought it would be nice to check on Quinn, to see how she was doing. Of course what he really wanted to do was see Sam but he was probably giving classes at the moment. Plus he wasn't sure if it was too soon or too appropriate after the night before, as he didn't know if it had meant as much for Sam as it had done for him or he would be crossing some boundaries if he acted as if they were a couple or something. After all, he didn't have that much experience about how relationships worked, right? And in spite of how wonderful and amazing and perfect Sam was, he was not the easiest person to figure out, right?

With his head about to explode with so many things to worry, Blaine walked again the path separating his cabin from Quinn's bungalow and knocked on the door.

"Hi" he quietly said as he opened the door, just in case Quinn was asleep or not feeling too well.

"Hi" she greeted him from her bed, and she seemed happy to see him.

"You look much better" Blaine said with an honest smile, glad that he would be able to erase the image of her feverish and writhing in pain the night before.

"You just missed your father" she explained, not aware of anything that had been going on since the day before. "He is such a wonderful man…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" Blaine tried to apologize, feeling guilty about what Quinn had suffered because, even if it hadn't been his doing, in the end it had been his money paying for that damned fake doctor.

"No, you couldn't possibly know, it's okay" Quinn answered, immediately reassuring him that he was not to blame in any way.

Blaine was about to protest when there was another knock on the door and Sam, of all people, appeared without waiting for an answer.

"Hey" he happily said as he entered, but his stance changed dramatically when he saw Blaine was there too.

"Sam" she happily answered, not missing how Blaine had immediately tensed at Sam's presence.

"So how are you doing?" Sam asked, trying to keep his pretence that nothing had changed from the day before.

"I'm okay" she answered with a relieved smile. "Dr. Anderson says I'm going to be fine, and that I can still have children"

"Oh, Quinn, that's great, that's really great" Sam replied, looking genuinely happy for his friend.

"So? How did it go last night?" she asked, looking alternatively at the both of them, as she was sure she was missing something.

"Good" Sam simply answered, awkwardly looking at Blaine for confirmation.

"Fine. I blanked out in one of the songs but it was good" Blaine added with an embarrassed chuckle.

The three of them fell into silence, and Quinn easily noticed how the other two kept avoiding each other's eyes as they stood awkwardly next to each other. It was not that difficult for her to put two and two together and understand what was going on. And even if she liked Blaine well enough, she didn't like it one bit.

"Well, I…" Blaine said, trying to break the ice. "I should be going. Bye"

"See ya" Sam said, managing to half-smile at him before Blaine finally left and closed the door behind him. "So the doctor said you are going to be fine, right?" Sam asked, turning to Quinn as he sat on the chair next to her bed, trying to engage his friend in a conversation before she had the chance to ask what was going on.

Of course she was more stubborn than that.

"Sam, what are you doing?" she reproached him, even half lifting from the bed to make more of an impression. "How many times you've told me not to get mixed up with them?"

"I know what I'm doing, Quinn" Sam answered as he uncomfortably lowered his gaze, not even trying to deny what Quinn was implying.

"You listen to me: you're going to stop it. Now" she said, hating to sound harsh but only wanting the best for her friend.

* * *

Unbeknown for the people inside, Blaine was waiting just outside, sitting at the stairs of Quinn's porch. He didn't know how long Sam was going to stay there, but he would wait as long as necessary. He couldn't keep living without knowing what was happening. And after seeing him again, he knew he also couldn't live without Sam anymore.

Fortunately Sam came out only five minutes later with a serious countenance, and he seemed surprised to see Blaine waiting for him, as he had seemed too embarrassed to meet him just a moment ago.

Blaine immediately rose to his feet to meet Sam, and again they ended up standing awkwardly in front of each other, both of them waiting for the other to speak.

"Look, I…" Sam said first, so hesitantly that he sounded like a whole different person. "I gotta run, I've got a class in like three minutes with the Pierces and they will kill each other if I'm not there"

"Sure, of course, you gotta go" Blaine answered, his heart breaking at the thought that Sam was going to avoid him now that he didn't need anything from him.

"See ya" Sam said again as he turned around and started walking away from him, Quinn's words still resonating into his head. And it was not just himself he was thinking about: he knew he was not good for Blaine either. The fight with his father the night before had more than proved that.

He only had walked a few steps when Blaine's voice stopped him immediately. After all, Blaine had always been the bravest of them both.

"Sam!" Blaine called him, and Sam didn't have the heart to ignore him after everything they had shared the night before.

Sam turned around and looked into Blaine's composed face. But there was so much pain and disappointment and doubt in his eyes that it broke Sam's heart to know he had been the one putting it there. And when Blaine's eyes shone with unshed tears and Sam felt as if someone was ripping his heart from his chest, he understood that it was too late for him to back up now, and neither Quinn nor anyone else would be able to stop what they felt now.

So Sam just followed his instincts and gave Blaine a smile from the distance. But not his usual sarcastic and cocky smirk, but a wide and tender smile only meant for Blaine, a reassuring smile full of promises and caring that he wished was enough to make Blaine understand what he couldn't say with words.

And when Blaine smiled back at him, biting his bottom lip nervously to keep himself from laughing happily, Sam knew he had gotten the message.

* * *

In the afternoon, the rain that had been threatening to fall all day finally made a presence, so the Andersons were forced to stay indoors for the day. Great, it couldn't have been any other day, Blaine thought as he watched his father play chess alone instead of asking him to join him as he usually did.

"I'm so sick of this rain" Cooper lamented as he closed the magazine he was reading.

"I know, honey" his mother patiently answered. "But we can't complain, we've had a wonderful weather until now"

"Well, complaining is the only thing left for me to do" Cooper joked. "Ugh, I hate his weather!"

Blaine felt a sudden need to get out of there. He felt restless, and Cooper's whining and his father's indifference towards him weren't helping in the least. And… he wanted to see Sam. He needed to see Sam.

He got up from his chair and threw a raincoat over him so he wouldn't get too wet before he made it to Sam's cabin. But his mother didn't miss his action and stopped him before he could get out.

"Blaine, where are you going in this weather?" she asked.

"Oh, they're doing charades in the main building" Blaine lied with a hint of guilt at how easy it was becoming for him to do it lately.

"Maybe you should stay here for a change" his father intervened not-too-friendly, talking to him for the first time in all day.

"Oh, come on, Dad, just let him go, he's young, he feels caged here with his folks and his old brother" Cooper interceded for him, sending a wink to his little brother. It was enough that he had to be bored as a stiff, if Blaine had any chance to escape that torture all the better for him.

Blaine watched as his father tried to make a decision, needing to be strict but also feeling like taking pity on him and his youth. Finally his soft heart won and he sighed in surrender before giving him his permission to go.

"Don't be late" he warned him in a threatening tone, reminding him that way that he was not going to be forgiven so easily.

"I won't" Blaine promised with a grateful smile to his father before he disappeared.

* * *

"Hey" Blaine shyly said as Sam opened the door of his cabin to him, just like the night before. And like the night before, he was not sure about the reaction he was going to get from the other boy.

"Hey" Sam answered with a small smile as he moved aside as a sign that he was inviting him inside.

"So… I'm hoping I'm not bothering you or anything" Blaine politely said, still unsure about how wanted his presence there would be, but he was reassured when Sam smiled tenderly at him and picked his hands in his.

"Of course not" Sam honestly answered. "I was so hoping you would come"

"Were you?" Blaine asked, his eyes looking even more gorgeous to Sam with all the love and the hope he could see in them.

"Of course" Sam answered with a fond chuckle. "I would have come to get you myself but well… I didn't think your father would appreciate the gesture"

Blaine laughed in spite of himself and in spite of the horrible day he had been having until that. But Sam had that power over him: he was the only one who was able to make him forget about everything that wasn't just the two of them and suddenly make it all better.

"It took me a long while to get the courage to come" Blaine confessed, wanting to be honest with him and encouraged by the fact that Sam still had to let go of his hands.

"I don't want you to feel awkward or hesitant around me" Sam tried to reassure him as he pulled of one of his hands and got him further into the room to sit on the bed next to him. "What happened last night was not a mistake by any means, and I don't want you to think I regret it or something"

"But this morning…"

"I'm sorry about this morning" Sam didn't even let him finish, such was his need to apologize. "I know I was a little short"

"Well, a little" Blaine admitted, smiling when Sam modified the union of their hands until they were entwining their fingers in an intimate way.

"I just… I wasn't expecting you there, and we weren't alone, and Quinn figured out about us and everything and… I let myself get convinced for a second that it wasn't a good idea"

"Quinn doesn't like me?" Blaine asked, having understood that it had probably been her trying to convince Sam that they couldn't happen.

"Quinn adores you, it's nothing personal, but… well, you're one of _them_ " Sam explained, hoping against hope he was not going to offend the smaller boy and send him away forever.

"Them?" Blaine asked, not knowing where Sam was going with that but fearing he was not going to like the answer.

"Rich people" Sam simply answered, now he being the one to blush about how absurd and simple it sounded.

"Oh" Blaine exclaimed, suddenly understanding.

"I know it sounds stupid, but…"

"No, I get it" Blaine interrupted him comprehensively, although Sam could see he was hurt by the tone of his voice. "But it hurts to be judged like that"

"And it was wrong of us, but that was before we got to know you" Sam rushed to reassure him, taking their joined hands to rest on his chest, above his heart. "Before _I_ got to know you"

"And now?" Blaine asked, fearful and hopeful in equal parts.

"Now a thousand Quinns or Dr. Andersons could keep me away from you" Sam honestly answered as his hand tenderly moved to cup Blaine's cheek and he kissed him with all the emotion he could muster.

* * *

There was nothing that Blaine liked more than lying on Sam's chest after making love with him, hearing the raindrops hitting the wooden roofs of his cabin. Sam loved to wrap his arms around him in a protective, almost possessive, embrace, as the tip of his fingers would brush Blaine's spine up and down as if they were trying to memorize every single vertebra in it. They didn't even need to talk to communicate with each other and they could spend long moments without even opening their mouths except to place gentle kisses on each other's skin every now and then.

Or they could spend hours just talking about everything, their most inner thoughts or the most stupid of things, just for the pleasure of hearing each other's soft voices and know there was someone who understood them so completely.

And Blaine was feeling talkative like that. And he was curious. Of course Sam had been his first, but what about Sam? How had his love life been until then?

"You've had many relationships?" Blaine asked all of a sudden, disturbing the quiet of the place with his so inappropriate question.

"What?" Sam asked, discussing his sex life with the boy lying naked in his arms the last thing on his mind.

"Have you had many lovers?" Blaine repeated, not willing to be dismissed just like that.

"B, come on" Sam pleaded for him to let it go.

"I wanna know" Blaine insisted, smiling at him to let him know he was not going to get jealous or upset about it. He was just curious.

"No, no" Sam answered, rising up to sit on the bed, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation, though he didn't want Blaine to think there was something he needed to hide, so he started talking. "You gotta understand what it's like, B. You come from the streets and suddenly you're up here and all those women, and even some guys, they throw themselves at you and they like you and make you feel good… And they're rich, they're so goddam rich… They give me the keys to their rooms… I don't know, they make me feel as I matter, they wouldn't do it if they didn't care about me, right?"

"It's okay, I get it" Blaine answered in a voice that sounded kind of sad or disappointed as he shrugged his shoulders. "You use them, that's all"

"No! No, that's not it" Sam contradicted him, desperately needing for his lover to understand he was not like that, fearing Blaine was afraid he might be just using him or having fun with him. "That's the thing, it wasn't like that. They were using me"

Blaine looked intently at him, trying to read into his eyes if he was telling the truth. But his eyes were full of honesty and some kind of sadness that made Blaine understand: Sam didn't feel he was worthy of anybody's love, he didn't think he had anything to offer. And being with so many people made him feel cared, if only for a little while.

If he only knew how worth it and perfect he was… His heart about to burst with a rush of feeling for the blond boy, Blaine sat up too and fell into his arms, hungrily catching his lips in his, trying to put all his love on that kiss so Sam would never feel lonely or unworthy again. And Sam seemed to understand, because he smiled against Blaine's lips and embraced him more strongly while he pushed him backwards again and ended up carefully resting on top of him.

Sam looked at the beautiful boy under him when the kiss broke, gently playing with the curls on his forehead, when he realized he still didn't know an important thing about him.

"How old are you, Blaine? Really?" he asked, and Blaine smiled at the unexpected question.

"Just turned 18" Blaine honestly answered, smiling as Sam pretended to sigh in relief.

"Gosh, I'm glad I'm not committing a crime, then" Sam joked before tenderly kissing the tip of Blaine's nose.

"Geez, you're 23, as if you were an old man!" Blaine answered with a laugh, trying not to blush at Sam's tender gestures that never failed to make him feel so special.

"You have a good memory!" Sam laughed, remembering some stray comment he had made the night they met and Blaine lied about his age. "Wait a minute, you said _just turned 18. Just_ as in…"

"As in… last week" Blaine answered, regretting his choice of words and Sam's astute thinking –which inevitably were going to make him feel guilty.

"What?" Sam exclaimed, horrified that he had missed such an important date. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because… you still kind of hated me" Blaine confessed, almost in a whisper.

"Blaine, I never hated you" Sam tried to convince him, although he knew he had given Blaine a lot of reasons to think that. "I'm sorry I was so harsh to you… and to think you were rehearsing and putting up with me on your birthday only to help us. And now just any birthday, but your 18th birthday, damn it"

"It's okay" Blaine immediately forgave him, stretching up his neck to capture Sam's lips in a reassuring kiss, hating himself for accidentally bringing the issue back.

"No, it's not" Sam insisted, even keeping the kiss short so he could keep showing Blaine his regret. "You came of age. It should have been special"

"Sammy, I spent my birthday doing exactly what I wanted, and that was being with you" Blaine honestly said, leaving Sam breathless.

"I don't know why you put up with me and my moods like that for so many days… I guess… it's this self defense mechanism I have"

"I get it, Sam, you were just trying to protect yourself and your friend. And I'm one of _them_ , right?"

"Should have known better" Sam said as he looked at Blaine with an impossibly loving gaze, his fingers carding through his hair before bending down to kiss him slowly.

"You should have" Blaine joked against Sam's lips, not sure he was ready to let go of them so he put his arms around the blond's neck to keep him in place.

"Well, I don't intent to be an idiot to you anymore, and I think your birthday still calls for a belated celebration" Sam replied, his voice turning huskier with every word, as he bent down again and kissed Blaine's lips much more hungrily this time, his hands already rummaging through every inch of Blaine's skin they could reach.

"Again?" Blaine asked when Sam finally let go of his lips for a moment for a much needed breath, blushing and chuckling at Sam's fervor for him at the same time.

"Why not? Is there something you'd rather be doing right now?" Sam cockily asked as his lips moved to his neck this time to suck at that special place he had discovered that always made Blaine's toes curl.

"No" Blaine answered before losing the ability to talk thanks to Sam's expert lips, knowing he wouldn't exchange any of the moments he spent with Sam for anything else in the world.

* * *

Blaine kept his promise and was back at his cabin before dinner time, knowing that defying his father like that would only make everything worse. And even if he was also a bit disappointed at his father for not even giving him the chance to explain, he still loved him with all his heart and he hated being at odds with him.

The bad weather persisted through the evening, and given the sour mood and the tension still present, the Andersons decided to go back to their cabin just after dinner for once, so Blaine ended up going to sleep early for a change –which wasn't a bad thing, considering how little he had slept the night before… for obvious reasons–, to which Cooper accompanied him.

That was something that usually the brothers did, even if they didn't share a room back at home. But one of them might sneak into the other's room and they would lie in bed for hours next to each other, opening their hearts and sharing secrets they had never told anyone. And Blaine would usually feel guilty after those moments, because he still hadn't gathered the courage to tell his brother about his sexuality.

"B? You awake?" Cooper asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Mmm" Blaine answered, because he had been very close to sleep, lying on his stomach with his face squished against his pillow.

"Don't you think now would be a good time for you to… talk to me?" Cooper tentatively answered, not wanting to send his brother into the defensive too soon.

"I'm talking to you" Blaine answered, his voice slurred with sleep.

"No, I meant… to have that conversation we still haven't had"

"I'm sleepy" Blaine protested even though he was feeling very much awake now and was only pretending, hoping his brother would just let go of it.

"Blaine, I need you to talk to me, I'm… I'm a bit worried about you" Cooper confessed, and he sounded so serious that Blaine couldn't simply ignore him anymore.

"You don't need to worry about me, Coop" Blaine tried to convice him as he raised his head from his pillow to look reassuringly at his brother. "I'm alright"

"I'm… kind of afraid you might be getting into something you can't manage" Cooper continued, and it was not often that Cooper would talk seriously, so Blaine knew he was worried indeed.

"Why would you think that?"

"Blaine, you've spent the whole summer away, when we both know that is so unlikely you!" Cooper explained, and both knew it was true: Blaine had never been one to have lots of friends and go out a lot. "And now all of a sudden you can't sit still, you don't have time to spend with your family, you don't talk to me anymore and don't think I haven't noticed there is something going between you and Dad, who by the way was absolutely your hero only a couple of weeks ago. Please, tell me you're not into some kind of trouble"

"Well, I am in some kind of trouble" Blaine finally admitted with a sigh.

"What is it?"

"I'm… I'm seeing someone" Blaine confessed hesitantly, not really knowing how to even start.

"Oh" Cooper exclaimed, a little relief that apparently whatever was going on with his brother didn't seem so bad. "And why is that trouble, apart from the fact that you've been sneaking out of the cabin in the middle of the night and lying to your parents?"

"Because it's someone Dad wouldn't approve. It's someone he doesn't approve, in fact, he made that perfectly clear" Blaine answered with a hint of resent in his voice.

"You told him?" Cooper asked, in surprise. He hadn't said anything to him but he had told their father? That didn't make any sense.

"He… found out" Blaine denied. "I would have never told him before I told you, you know"

"And who is that mysterious someone you're risking your relationship with your father for?" Cooper asked, knowing how important his family was for Blaine.

"It's… someone very special" Blaine answered, his voice shaking a bit at the end, making Cooper understand it was more serious than he thought.

"Oh Blaine, have you fallen in love?" Cooper asked in a comprehensive tone, fondly amused at his little brother's shenanigans.

"I think so" he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Aw, come here" Cooper said as he got up from his bed to move to Blaine's, lying next to his brother and motioning for him to cuddle up to him as he put his arm around him in a comforting half embrace. "I'm not going to ask you who it is because it's obvious you don't want to tell me. But I'm going to give you an advice"

"What is it?"

"If you really feel that deeply for that person, go for it. Screw Dad and everyone else" Cooper said, surprising Blaine with the intensity of his words, though he instantly turned to some light joking, as that was Cooper and he was totally incapable to have a serious conversation. "Just be careful, I don't want any little Blaineys knocking on our door nine months from now"

"Oh, don't' worry, that is not going to happen" Blaine answered with a chuckle, the idea of getting Sam pregnant sounding hilarious in his head.

"My little brother… you're not so little anymore, are you?" Cooper said with some nostalgia in his voice as he rubbed Blaine's arm.

"I guess not" Blaine answered with a smile, snuggling up to him in a rush of love for his big brother, who had always been there for him.

"Maybe someday you two can come on a double date with me and Santana" Cooper joked.

"Santana?" Blaine repeated. With the entire Sam thing, he had completely forgotten about his brother's relationship with Puck's sister, which he didn't like one bit.

"Yes, that waitress I've been seeing for days. You know her, right?"

"Yes, I know her" Blaine answered, sounding harsher than he had intended.

"What does that tone mean?" Cooper asked, as he knew his brother like the back of his hand and he could tell when something didn't sit right with him.

"I'm just not sure she is the right girl for you" Blaine answered, wishing he could explain how he knew what a bitch she was. But he would be watching her for sure!

"Aw, you're so sweet, being so protective of your big brother" Cooper answered with a laugh, not really understanding what was going on and thinking that his brother simply thought no one was good enough for him.

"Just be careful with her too… and not just about sex" Blaine warned him, as the last thing he wanted was to see his brother hurt. He was strong, he knew that much, but well… he still wanted to protect him.

"Ok, I'm not ready to talk about sex with my little brother yet" Cooper joked, pretending to be horrified by it as he made himself more comfortable on Blaine's bed. "So let's get some sleep, ok?"

"Aren't you going to go back to your bed?" Blaine asked with a smile, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"No, I'm comfortable here" Cooper answered, already closing his eyes.

"Ok" Blaine answered with a laugh as he nestled more comfortably to Cooper's side, feeling immensely grateful for having the best big brother in the world.

* * *

Even thought they didn't need to rehearse anymore, Blaine of course went to Sam's classroom after his last class the following afternoon so they could spend some time together –something of which they couldn't have enough, apparently–. That way they could be together without having to hide, as they could pretend Blaine was taking guitar lessons if someone saw them together.

"Hey" Blaine said as he appeared at the top of the stairs that lead to the classroom, the butterflies in his stomach going wild at the way Sam's face brightened up when he saw him.

"Hey!" Sam answered, walking –almost running– to him to rest his hands on Blaine's waist and kiss his lips devotedly. "I missed you"

"I missed you too" Blaine answered as he happily threw his arms around Sam's shoulders and held strongly onto him for a good while, hiding his face in the crook of Sam's neck to deeply breathe into his unique essence.

"Mmm, you smell so good" Sam said, as he apparently had been doing the same with him. "So what have you been doing today?"

"Missing you" Blaine answered with a mischievous smile, making Sam laugh wholeheartedly at that.

"Apart from that" he said while he finally let go of the shorter boy and moved to what he had been doing when he arrived, and that was organizing his table –which Blaine could see was as messy as his room usually was, even if he couldn't care less about it.

"I was really doing that the whole day" Blaine insisted as he walked to the piano in the room and sat on its stool. "In fact I missed you so much that I wrote a song about you"

"What? Did you really?" Sam asked, turning from his task to look at him, apparently very moved by Blaine's confession.

"Yeah… As a thank you for _Because of you_ " Blaine tentatively answered, hoping he was not making a mistake. "That was about me, right?"

"How do you know?" Sam asked, smiling at him, and Blaine was glad that he had not wrongly assumed anything and that Sam seemed not embarrassed by it.

"Because Quinn said you had written it very recently. And it was just after the day in the lake"

"Something changed in me that day, B" Sam admitted. "You changed it"

"You wanna hear my song?" Blaine asked, still blushing furiously at Sam's appraisals. "It's not as good or romantic as yours by any means, but…"

"I'm sure it's perfect" Sam stopped him with a fond smile, as he leaned on his desk to give Blaine his whole attention. "And of course I want to hear it"

"I didn't have a piano with me in the cabin, so I will have to improvise" Blaine warned him, not wanting to disappoint the other boy.

"Will you start already?" Sam said with a chuckle that calmed Blaine's nerves down.

"I hope you don't think I'm a pervert" Blaine said before finally turning to the piano to play.

"Why would I think that?" Sam asked in surprise, but instead of answering, Blaine started singing.

 _I love the way you look tonight  
With your hair hangin' down on your shoulders  
And I love the way you dance your slow sweet tango  
The way you wanna do everything but talk  
And how you stare at me with those undress me eyes  
Your breath on my body makes me warm inside_

Sam remained motionless, almost without breathing, as he listened to Blaine's perfect voice beautifully filling the place as his fingers gently caressed the keys on the piano. So was really little Blainey singing a song about making love with him? And how the hell did he manage to make it sound so pure and beautiful and perfect?

 _Let's make out, let's do something amazing  
Let's do something that's all the way  
'Cuz I've never touched somebody like the way I touch your body  
Now I never want to let your body go_

 _Let's make a night to remember from January to December  
Let's make love to excite us, a memory to ignite us  
Let's make honey baby, soft and tender  
Let's make sugar darling, sweet surrender  
Let's make a night to remember all life long_

His heart feeling as if it was about to burst, Sam couldn't stand the distance anymore and walked to where his lover was. He silently knelt behind his stool and put his arms around Blaine's waist, slowly so as not to disturb his performance. Blaine jumped a little with surprise, but immediately recovered and continued singing, now with a tender smile on his face as Sam's arms surrounded him.

 _I love the way you move tonight  
Beads of sweat drippin' down your skin  
Me lying here and you lying there  
Our shadows on the wall and our hands everywhere_

 _Let's make out, let's do something amazing  
Let's do something that's all the way  
'Cuz I've never touched somebody like the way I touch your body  
Now I never want to let your body go_

 _Let's make a night to remember from January to December  
Let's make love to excite us, a memory to ignite us  
Let's make honey baby, soft and tender  
Let's make sugar darling, sweet surrender  
Let's make a night to remember all life long_

Blaine took a deep breath before continuing, as he was going to raise his voice for the reprise, trying not to shake as Sam's lips started resting butterfly kisses between his shoulder-blades in apprecitation.

 _Oh when I think about you all the time  
Can't you see you drive me outta my mind?  
But I'm never holdin' back again  
Yeah I never want this night to end  
'Cuz I've never touched somebody like the way I touch your body  
Now I never want to let your body go_

 _Let's make a night to remember from January to December  
Let's make love to excite us, a memory to ignite us  
Yeah let's make honey baby, soft and tender  
Let's make sugar darlin', sweet surrender  
Let's make a night to remember all, all life long_

"Oh my God, B, that was amazing" Sam honestly said when the other finally fell in silence.

"Really?" Blaine said, his face full of hope as he turned around on his seat to look at the other boy.

"And you said it wasn't romantic? Blaine, no one has made me feel like this before"

Unable to find the right words to express what he was feeling, Blaine lent forward and captured Sam's lips in a fierce kiss, closing his arms around Sam's shoulders to bring him close to him until their chests collided.

Embracing him just as strongly, Sam got on his feet and brought Blaine up with him, never breaking the kiss even for one second. Quickly getting too caught in their loving encounter, Sam easily lifted Blaine from the floor and got him to sit on the piano, spreading his legs enough for him to stand between them until they were completely glued to each other. Blaine moaned into Sam's mouth at the contact before his hands moved to the hem of the blond's black t-shirt to roll it up –he hadn't seen or touched that perfectly sculpted chest since the day before, and he was only human–, when a voice calling Sam while going up the stairs interrupted them.

"Sam?" Kurt's voice sounded just a second before he arrived to the top step.

"Shit" Sam exclaimed as he quickly separated from Blaine and pulled his t-shirt down as the latter jumped from the piano, both of them trying to regain his breath before Kurt could guess what they had been doing.

"Sam?" Kurt repeated when he finally came into view, only to be surprised by Blaine's presence –and how flushed he looked. "Oh, sorry, I thought your classes were over for the day" he hypocritically apologized before turning to Blaine with his best smile. "Blaine, I didn't know you where taking music lessons. I could teach you too, you know?"

But before Blaine could answer, Sam slammed the piano's lid with all his forces to cut him from flirting with Blaine and then pretended it had been unintentional.

"Sam, my father put me in charge of the final show" Kurt said, ignoring Sam's impertinence for once in favor of looking like a professional. "I wanted to talk to you about the last song. I'd like to shake things up a bit. You know, move it to times"

"Yeah!" Sam agreed enthusiastically, and Blaine smiled fondly at him and how he always put his heart into everything he did. "I've got a lot of ideas! In fact, a friend and I have even written some songs that would go great" he continued, sending a knowing look at Blaine to let him know he was talking about him. "We intend to rehearse them with the dance teachers and…"

"Wow, wow, wow, that's way over your head" Kurt stopped him patronizingly, and Blaine thought he had never hated somebody so much like he was hating Kurt at the moment. "I meant something that gets people off their seats, something they all know and love. People want to have fun, they don't have time for your experiments"

"Right. Of course" Sam answered in a defeated tone that immediately broke Blaine's heart and angered him in equal parts.

"Well, you have the last word, of course, but maybe next year we can find a singer who knows what…" Kurt threatened.

"Sure, Kurt. No problem" Sam agreed, and he sounded so different for his usual self that Blaine felt he didn't even know him. "We'll end the season with something everybody can sing and dance. It's a great idea"

Kurt smiled triumphantly when Sam surrendered so easily, and then he turned to go, though he still stopped next to Blaine, who had been awkwardly standing a few feet from then, to feign he was whispering in his ear, though he made sure he was loud enough so Sam could hear him.

"Sometimes he's hard to talk to, but ladies seemed to like him" he said, and he came so close to Blaine that he made him feel uncomfortable.

He noticed Sam looking at them with a furious expression in his face, and when Blaine felt forced to take a couple of steps back to put some distance between Kurt and himself, he saw Sam about to walk to them and punch the lights out of Kurt for taking those kind of unwanted liberties with Blaine, though Blaine discreetly shook his head in negation and Sam obeyed.

"Make sure he gives you the full half hour you're paying him for, honey" Kurt said, more loudly this time as he walked to the entrance and then disappeared downstairs.

* * *

"He wouldn't see a new idea even if it was right in front of his nose!" Sam kept angrily ranting, as he had been doing since they left the classroom and were walking to Sam's cabin, though Blaine was having trouble to keep up with Sam's vigorous pace. "He wants ideas? I've got tones of them!"

"Then why did you let him talk to you that way?" Blaine protested, as he had hated to watch Sam just keeping his head down as Kurt threatened to fire him if he didn't obey.

"What do you mean, that I should fight the boss?" Sam sarcastically asked, turning to look at Blaine.

"Yes! Tell him your ideas!" Blaine encouraged him. "He is a person like everybody else"

"Look, I know these people, B. They're rich and they're mean. They wouldn't listen to me"

"Then why don't you fight harder? Make them listen"

"Because I need this goddam job next summer!" Sam answered, subconsciously raising his voice again. He loved how optimistic Blaine was, but sometimes it looked as if he didn't know what life was really about. "It's either that or going back to Kentucky to work as a house painter, like my father wants me to"

Blaine sighed as he refrained for making any other comment. He knew Sam hadn't had it easy, and confronting him about what he should or shouldn't do was not going to make anything better. After all, he knew how things worked on that damned hotel way better than he did, and he should be supporting him instead of criticizing him, even if he was only doing it with his best interest at heart.

Feeling sorry about fighting with him, Blaine drew a hand to Sam's arm, with the intention of caressing it in an apologizing way, but Sam was still angry and refused the contact. Blaine was about to ask him for his forgiveness with words when he noticed his father, his brother and Santana walking out of the cafeteria. His father had one arm around Cooper and the other around Santana as they kept a light conversation, and Blaine's heart stung at the thought that a scene like that would never happen with Sam and him.

Terrified that his father would see him with Sam again, he grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him down to crouch behind some bushes. Sam looked even angrier than before, but he still obeyed and hid with him, not wanting to cause him any trouble even if they were at odds.

"They didn't see us" Blaine whispered when his family was finally out of sight, rising to his feet and looking at Sam with fear, as he knew he would be even angrier than before.

"Fight harder, huh?" Sam said, in a lower voice than before even if it sounded more threatening. "I don't see you fighting so hard, Blaine. I don't see you running up to daddy and telling him I'm your guy"

"I will" Blaine promised, even though he could see how little convincing he sounded. "With my father is complicated but I will tell him, it's just…"

"I don't believe you, Blaine" Sam sadly answered as he shook his head in negation. "I don't think you ever had any intention of telling him. Never"

Blaine felt tears stinging in his eyes as he watched Sam's retreating back walking away from him, hoping he had not lost him forever. But what hurt him the most was that he had been the one to make Sam feel like he was not good enough, something Blaine had been fighting a lot to convince Sam otherwise until then. He needed to fix it. He would give Sam some time to cool down and then he would ask for his forgiveness and show him how high he thought of him and how worth it he was.

* * *

Blaine didn't know where else to look: he had been at Sam's cabin, at the classroom, he had even asked Sebastian if he knew where he was, and he still hadn't found him. He was getting desperate, and with each passing moment he needed to talk to Sam more and more, hoping it wasn't too late.

He was about to burst into tears of desperation when he thought there was a place he hadn't searched yet, and that was Quinn's room. Of course, he said as he resisted the urge to slap his own forehead, how he had not thought about that before? Quinn was his best friend, and it would be her the one to go to if he needed a shoulder to cry on.

Filled with hope once again, he ran the rest of the way to Quinn's bungalow and jumped the three steps on her porch in one go. He almost opened the door in a rush, but then he remembered his manners and decided to knock instead. After all, he and Quinn liked each other but were not that close, and Sam had mentioned how Quinn didn't see their relationship with good eyes.

Quinn opened the door for him in less than a minute, and stood silent in front of him with a serious expression –similar to the one she had always given him before they started rehearsing for the gig–.

"Hi" Blaine said in a polite tone, not willing to let himself be intimidated by Quinn's prejudices. "Have you seen Sam?"

Quinn didn't answer, but she opened the door a bit more widely so Blaine could see that Sam was inside. He was sitting on Quinn's bed, his elbows on his knees and his face resting in his hands, as if he had been deep in thought. Blaine's heart almost stopped at the thought that he had been deciding if he should forget about him.

Sam raised his gaze and seemed a bit surprised to see him there and, even though he didn't look like he wanted to talk to him just yet, he got on his feet out of respect for him and walked out of the room so they could have some privacy.

If there was something Sam was that was stubborn, and he still felt hurt by Blaine's words from before, so he walked past him and stood silent, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for Blaine to make the first move.

And of course Blaine did: he walked just behind Sam and put his arms around him, kissing him all along his upper back.

"I'm sorry" he whispered one time after another, grateful that at least Sam was not rejecting his touch this time even if he wasn't responding to it either.

And that's how Puck found them when he passed them by on his way to his own room just in that precise moment.

"Oh, look at all that passion, I gotta tell Santana she picked the wrong brother" he said, looking at him with a sarcastic smile on his face. "It's okay, Blainey, I went slumming too"

It was just an unfortunate comment, but suddenly it was all too much: everything Puck had put Quinn through and how he had left her to solve it on her own; all the times he had made fun of him and taken advantage that he was a family friend of the Hummel's so Sam wouldn't touch him; how he had implied he was seducing Blaine for his own benefit. And the fact that he was hinting that Blaine was some kind of whore or anything like that just because he was kissing him was just the last straw.

With a fury he had never felt before, Sam gently pushed Blaine away and jumped over the small fence on the porch to get to Puck. He grabbed him by the lapels before the other was even aware of what was happening. He pushed him strongly to the side of the bungalow, cutting the breath out of him with the blow, and then he threw him to the ground in disgust. Sam had a moment of lucidity then and decided that maybe he shouldn't get into a fight, that it may bring him more trouble, but then Puck got up and came charging at him, so stopping was not an option anymore.

"Sam!" he heard Blaine yell just before Puck punched him in the face, and the only thing that worried him was that Blaine might come between them and end up hurt.

"Stay there!" Sam pleaded for him to stay away from them.

Sam returned the punch, hitting Puck square in the jaw which only seemed to enrage him even further, but before he could throw himself at Sam again, Blaine, who had run to them when he saw they were not going to stop, put himself between them both in an attempt of separating them. Puck, whose arm was already prepared to hit Sam's face, was very close to hitting Blaine instead, but he stopped himself in time: no matter how close friends his family was with Mr. Hummel, if he punched a client, especially considering it was someone younger and smaller than him and the son of Mr. Hummel's doctor, he would get fired for sure.

"Stop it!" Blaine yelled even if he couldn't help but flinch when Puck's fist came too close to his face.

"Blaine!" Sam exclaimed as he grabbed Blaine by the arms and tried to move him aside before he got hurt, but Blaine remained stubborn and didn't let him move him.

"Sam, he's not worth it" Blaine said, turning to Sam instead to try and convince him to let it go. "He's not worth it"

"Get out of here" Sam angrily said to Puck, letting himself be convinced by his lover. He was right after all: he wasn't worth it getting into trouble for.

Puck sent a killer look at Sam as he wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth, but didn't say anything else and left, knowing Blaine could get him into trouble if he didn't.

"You okay?" Sam asked Blaine once Puck had disappeared, afraid he could have gotten hurt without him realizing it.

"Yeah" Blaine immediately answered, as he hadn't received any blows. Unlike Sam. "You?"

"Yes" he simply answered before strongly wrapping his arms around Blaine's smaller frame, as if he needed to make sure he was there and he was alright. If he had gotten hurt because of him…

"I'm so sorry" Blaine apologized again, his voice muffled with Sam's shoulder as he also clung to him.

"Forget it, it was just a stupid argument" Sam answered as his hand traced comforting patterns on Blaine's back, suddenly the anger he had felt only a while before seeming so insignificant.

"I was so afraid I had really screwed up and you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anymore" Blaine confessed, his voice still shaky.

"Never" Sam answered, breaking the embrace to cup Blaine's face in his hands. "There's no way I can stop wanting to spend every minute of my day with you"

Blaine smiled shyly at him, and Sam chuckled in response before capturing his lips in a tender and slow kiss.

"You want to come to my room with me?" Sam asked, although he could see in Blaine's eyes what the answer was going to be so he put an arm around the curly-haired boy's shoulder and started leading him.

"As if you needed to ask" Blaine answered with a chuckle as he put his own arm around Sam's waist and started walking with him.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day the ballroom at the main building of the hotel was a swarm of people and activity, as the day of the final show and talent contest was coming near. Auditions were being held, and other people were helping with decorations and other stuff that needed to be done. Of course Blaine was one of those, as he had been unable to refuse Kurt's insistence to help him without being plaid rude, and Cooper had asked him to accompany him to his audition.

And that's how Blaine found himself painting a stupid papier maché palm tree that was supposed to be on the stage as people performed. Though if the performances were to have the same quality the auditions had, Blaine wasn't sure it was even worth it.

Though being there had a positive –very positive– part, and that was getting to admire Sam's beauty all morning. As a member of the entertainment staff it was part of Sam's job to organize the show, and he had been there all morning, arranging things. And well, he wasn't bad to look at, Blaine thought with a smile. And when sometimes Sam would look at him and their gazes would meet and he smiled at him… well, it made it all worth it.

Blaine's smile immediately erased from his face when he noticed one of those middle-aged rich women that would use Sam when they were feeling lonely walking to him. She was trying to look seductive, but she only managed to look disgusting to Blaine, who held his breath in advance for what was about to happen.

"This is our last night together, lover" she said, because usually those women stayed at the hotel for the week while their husbands worked and they came for the weekend, so her husband would probably be back the day after. "I've got something worked out for us"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Pressman, but I'm booked up for the whole weekend with the show and everything, so I won't have time for anything else" Sam answered without hesitation as he turned around and left the woman standing there, speechless and humiliated.

Blaine let the air out in relief, proud that Sam had completely ignored any benefit that woman could give him just for him, and he could only smile when Sam looked at him again from the distance and winked his eye at him.

"I'm going to have a real date with Santana today" Cooper's voice, suddenly at his side, surprised him. "She doesn't know yet, it will be a surprise"

"Coop, wait" Blaine said, to no avail as Cooper was already gone from his side again.

So with a resigned sign, Blaine just resumed his painting activity, and kept sending furtive glances at Sam for the rest of the morning.

* * *

Cooper dressed with his best clothes that evening, having asked his parents for permission to skip family dinner, and couldn't contain a smile as he confidently walked to which he knew was Santana's bungalow. He kept thinking about his brother's words, to be careful with her… Blaine was usually pretty good reading people, he had that sensitivity in him, but well… he could be wrong this time, right?

It was not like he was in love with Santana by any means, of course. Not like Blaine was about that mysterious person he refused to talk about. But she was still nice and very pretty and well… Cooper was only human, and three weeks locked up in a cabin with his family (even sharing a room with his little brother!) were enough: he needed some action.

Still intent on giving her a surprise –he knew it was her free-day, so he had planned on taken her out for dinner and… whatever happened after that– he didn't even bother to knock and opened her door in one go.

"Hey, it's me!" he said in a triumphal tone, expecting her to jump in his arms or something like that.

Only that didn't happen and his smile froze when he found she was very busy, having fun under the blankets with another one of the clients of the hotel. That bitch!

Without waiting for an explanation, he turned around and closed the door behind him. If she thought he was going to lose a minute feeling sorry for himself… So with a shrug of shoulders and the keys to his father's car in his pocket, he decided to go out anyway on his own and… see if he could find some fun anywhere else. Hadn't Blaine talked about another hotel not so far away, the Shelldrake or something like that?

* * *

Of course Blaine had had dinner with his parents, as it was expected of him, but after they went back to the cabin and they went to sleep, Blaine had sneaked out again and practically ran to the staff party pavilion, where he had danced with Sam for a while –in which they hadn't separated from each other's arms after Sebastian had congratulated them and told them he had seen it coming– and then they had retreated to Sam's room for some quality time together.

So that's how Blaine was now practically asleep in the crook of Sam's neck, contented and spent, as the tip of the blond's fingers gently tickled his side. He could hardly keep his eyes open, but Sam was very awake and he seemed to be slightly troubled about something.

"You okay?" Blaine mumbled because no matter how sleepy he was, he still worried if Sam was not 100% alright.

"Yeah" Sam answered, gratefully kissing Blaine's forehead and holding him a bit more strongly to him.

"You sure?" Blaine insisted, forcing himself to open his eyes and remain awake so he could lovingly trace invisible paths on the soft skin of Sam's chest, something he had discovered never failed to comfort the taller boy and make him feel better.

"You want to hear something crazy?" Sam said, not able to deny it any longer. "Last night I dreamt we were walking around, and your father put his arm around me, like he did with Santana"

Blaine's heart broke at Sam's confession. Sam asked for so little… He only wanted to be accepted and loved, and Blaine's father had hurt him so much even if he wouldn't admit it… Blaine wished he could tell Sam that his dream might come true someday, that his father would accept them sooner or later and that they would be together forever… But he didn't know if any of that would be true, and he was as afraid as Sam was about that –he was terrified about his father's reaction when he found out he was gay, much less dating somebody with a reputation like Sam's, and he feared he wouldn't give them the chance to see how kindhearted and perfect Sam was and how meant for each other they were–. But it was about Sam today, he was feeling bad and it was up to Blaine to let him see how loved he was.

From his position he started nibbling Sam's ear until he heard him chuckle, and then he changed to kissing Sam's neck slowly, deeply sucking on a sensitive spot of his that always made him sigh –that time being no exception–.

Sam let himself be taken care of for once and stretched his neck backwards to give Blaine's lips better access to it. And Blaine surely took advantage to it and travelled all along it, from one side to the other, even climbing on top of Sam to reach every angle better.

"You're so kissable" Blaine said without even lifting his lips from Sam's skin, making Sam laugh wholeheartedly at the absurdity of his statement. But it was always like that: he didn't mind that Blaine got to see his weak points because he would never judge him for them; all the contrary, he would always try to make them better.

"And you're so crazy" Sam replied, his hands moving to close around Blaine's waist as a way of telling him not to move from there, as he was finding his warmth and his weight very comforting.

"Crazy about you" Blaine replied with a chuckle as he went up the rest of the way and joined their lips this time, taking his time to tease him with his tongue before he deepened the kiss and try to put all his emotion in it for Sam to receive.

"Uh, that was smooth" Sam joked when the kiss finally broke, and Blaine could feel him already feeling better.

"Yet it's true" he answered as he lowered his head to rest over Sam's heart, not moving an inch from Sam's body so he was still lying flat on him –and Sam seemed to like it, so…

"You're the sweetest thing ever, you know?" Sam said as his fingers moved to caress his scalp through his soft curls, his face sporting a very different and happier expression than just a few minutes ago.

"You wanna know something?" Blaine said, and when he felt Sam's body move when he nodded he continued. "I talked to my brother about you"

"You did?" Sam asked in astonishment.

"Well, not exactly" Blaine confessed. "I told him I had fallen in love with someone, but I didn't tell him who it was"

"Fallen in love?" Sam asked, even more surprised than before.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, please don't freak out" Blaine pleaded as he raised his head to look at the other boy, terrified he had said too much and scared him away with his intensity.

"Why would I freak out?" Sam asked with a sweet smile as he lovingly tucked a stray curl behind Blaine's ear.

"Because I'm being too obnoxious and clingy and rushing too much into things, right?" Blaine answered in a rush, and he looked so adorably afraid that Sam could only smile at him.

"You're not obnoxious by any means" Sam answered with a tender voice as he held Blaine's chin between his fingers so he would see how serious he was about it. "And I love that you are clingy, because then we can be clingy together. And I wouldn't call it rushing it too much when… when I feel the same way about you"

In a rush of emotion Blaine stretched out and starting giving Sam butterfly kisses all around his face until the latter could take it no more and had to tell him to stop between laughs. He managed to grab Blaine's wrists and, after a bit of playful wrestling, Sam managed to reverse their positions and he ended up on top of the other boy, holding his wrists above his head.

"If you could see how beautiful you look right now…" Sam said as he looked adoringly at the younger boy, who by then was blushing at the appraisal and panting from the effort, biting his bottom lip in anticipation before Sam closed the distance between their mouths and kissed him breathless.

"Do you know what I would love for us to do?" Blaine asked, moaning with pleasure as this time it was Sam's lips the ones to adventure down his throat.

"I can imagine" Sam answered with a chuckle as he let go of Blaine's wrists to entwine their fingers together instead.

"Ok, after that" Blaine joked, making Sam lift his head from his skin to look at him.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"I want us to write a song together. The most beautiful song ever" Blaine confessed, trying not to blush at the intensity of his own feelings.

"We can do that" Sam easily agreed, and then he kissed Blaine passionately to close the deal.

* * *

The sun was just starting to come up when Blaine finally couldn't prolong it any longer and had to leave Sam's cabin. The latter accompanied him a few steps outside the cabin, even if he hadn't bothered to get dressed again and had only thrown his pants over himself, even being barefoot until Blaine turned to him and they melted in an embrace and a goodbye kiss that lasted for a good while.

A while long enough for Mrs. Pressman to walk out of Puck's room –he had gone to him after Sam's rejection– and see them from the distance. At first she couldn't believe what she was seeing –Sam with another boy?– but then she had gotten angry about the fact she had been rejected for what? For a stupid little boy who probably still didn't know anything about life?

Sam should know better. He should have known nobody played with Vivien Pressman.

* * *

Blaine could barely keep his eyes open at the breakfast table a while later –which was no surprise, because with all the love-making and the song-writing he had hardly had any sleep–, but he couldn't help but smile at his brother, who looked even worse than he did and he seemed to be more than a little hungover.

At least Blaine was glad that Burt Hummel and his son were sharing the meal with them this time, so the conversation was easy and he could let everyone else talk, without feeling the need to try and intervene too much.

"I found out that one of my employees is a thief" Burt was explaining, even if Blaine was barely listening to him.

"Mr. Schuester's wallet was stolen while he played cards last night. It was in his jacket, hanging on the back of his seat, and before he knew it, it was gone" Kurt added, apparently more amused than worried at the situation.

"Vivien Pressman says he saw that singer kid, Sam, walking by" Burt continued casually.

But of course that immediately sparked Blaine's attention, and he straightened up in his seat in surprise. So what, they were accusing Sam of stealing now? Was that bitch accusing him in revenge for his rejection the day before?

"So we asked him: _do you have an alibi for last night?_ And he said he was alone in his room, reading" Burt continued.

"There are no books in Sam's room. I doubt he even knows how to read" Kurt joked, apparently having a great time with that –and he probably was, as Blaine knew how much he detested Sam.

Blaine hated Kurt so much right then… But he needed his help. He knew Kurt liked him, maybe he could convince him they were making a mistake…

"This is a mistake, I know Sam didn't do it" Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's arms in a pleading gesture.

"There have been some thefts in the Shelldrake and it's happened here before, three other wallets" Kurt added, as if he didn't need any more prove to consider Sam guilty.

"I know he didn't do it" Blaine insisted, but he could see that this time Kurt was staying firm in his idea.

"Stay out of this, Blaine" he answered, making it clear that he was not going to change his mind.

Blaine looked around the table, desperate for a solution, something or someone to get Sam out of trouble. He noticed than Mr. Hummel was now talking to his mother and his father was distracted, so he took advantage of it to move next to him and try and get some help from him.

"Dad, I need your help" he said in desperation, moving his chair closer to his father. "I know Sam didn't take Mr. Schuester's wallet, I know it"

"How do you know?" his father asked. Obviously he wasn't going to make it easy for him either, as he didn't have a better opinion of Sam than the Hummel's did.

"I can't tell you…" Blaine answered, his heart breaking at having to disappoint his father again, but Sam was more important now. "But please, trust me, Dad"

"I'm sorry, Blaine, I can't" Don sadly answered while shaking his head, unable to trust his son again after what had happened the last time.

"Mr. Hummel, look" Blaine said, interrupting the man's conversation in what could be considered a rude way, but he couldn't care less about that in that moment. "Maybe Sam didn't do it. Anyone could have taken it, maybe… maybe it was that crazy lady, Sue Sylvester, I saw her with a couple of men wallets" Blaine explained, vividly remembering how she was carrying two manly wallets in his purse that time he had helped her picked it up from the floor.

"Sue?" Burt asked with an amused expression, obviously not thinking that was possible.

"Blaine, you don't go around accusing innocent people" his father immediately admonished him, astounded at his usually level-tempered son's behavior.

"But I saw her, she was at the Shelldrake" he insisted.

"Well, I've got a witness and the kid has no alibi" Mr. Hummel answered as he stood up from his chair. "Come on, Kurt. You'll know what is like to fire an employee"

"Mr. Hummel, wait a minute" Blaine insisted, knowing that the time for him to come clean with everything had come if it meant saving Sam's ass, because there was no other way and Sam was more important than anything. "I know Sam didn't take the wallet. I know he didn't take it because he was in his room all night. And the reason I know is… because I was with him"

Blaine ignored the collective gasp around the table at his confession, not wanting to know who was more surprised or disgusted about this whole new side of him they were just discovering. His eyes only fixated on those of his father. And he could hardly stop himself from breaking into tears at all the hurt and disappointment he could see in them.

* * *

Blaine debated with himself if he should go and talk to his father. The older man had been sitting on a chair at the porch of their cabin without saying a word since they came back from the dining room. And Blaine didn't know if he should apologize, because he didn't feel as if he had done anything so terribly wrong, apart from lying to him. But he loved his father and he hated seeing him like that, so if he needed to swallow his pride to fix it, he was willing to do it.

He slowly walked to him, taking his time to think about everything he had to say. And he knew his father had heard him, as he had slightly turned his head as he approached to see who it was, but he was stubborn and he kept looking at the lake in front of him, almost as if he was too disappointed or disgusted to even look at him. But Blaine was not someone who got easily discouraged, so he stood next to him and started talking, with all the serenity he could muster given the turmoil of emotions inside of him.

"I told you I was telling the truth, Dad. I'm sorry I lied to you… but you lied too"

Don turned to him at that, looking surprised at him. But Blaine was not going to back down, as there were a lot of things he needed to say, so he continued.

"You told me everyone was alike and deserved a fair break, but you meant everyone who is like you. You told me that you wanted me to change the world, to make it better… but you meant by becoming a lawyer, or an economist and marry the perfect woman"

He could see his father was listening to him, and the fact that he hadn't even tried to defend himself from Blaine's accusations told him maybe not everything was lost, even if he turned to look at the lake and remained completely silent.

"I'm not proud of myself… but I'm in this family too and you can't keep giving me the silent treatment. There are a lot of things about me that aren't what you thought… but if you love me you'll have to love all the things about me"

Blaine couldn't help it anymore and he started silently crying at his father's treatment, his heart breaking at the thought the man he had always considered his hero might not ever love him again because of who he was. And he continued, not knowing if his voice was going to hold on or it was going to breakdown before he was over.

"I love you. And I'm sorry I let you down"

And when he couldn't stop the sobs from coming and his father still refused to even look at him, Blaine decided he was not going to apologize anymore.

"I'm so sorry, Dad, but you let me down too. I don't know what hurt you the most, the fact that I'm not a little boy anymore, that I've been intimate with someone you don't approve or the fact that you have a gay son. But whatever it is, you will have to come over it, you hear me?"

Blaine could see that his father was not going to say a word, so he breathed deeply a couple of times to calm himself and stop the tears and turned to go. But he only had taken a couple of steps when he looked at his father again for a moment.

"You're not the kind of person I thought you were either, Dad" he said, and he was gone before he could see his father breaking into tears himself.

* * *

Sam sighed in relief as he finally found Blaine asleep on the little sofa of his classroom. Apparently they had been looking for each other all around the hotel, and finally Blaine had decided to wait for him there. And, as usual, he had been right.

"Hey" Sam sweetly said as he knelt next to his lover and removed some curls that had fallen on his forehead to wake him up. "I have been looking for you all over"

"Me too" Blaine answered as he sat up, and Sam was horrified to see the dry traces of tears on his cheeks.

"They found Sue Sylvester" Sam explained, sitting next to the smaller boy. "They fingerprinted her water glass and found out she is wanted in Arizona and Florida and that she made a fortune here this summer"

"So then it's alright" Blaine said with a smile, happy to hear the first good news of the day. "I knew it would work out. I knew they'd have to apologize"

Blaine laughed as he put his arms around Sam's shoulders, going for a kiss, but he was surprised when Sam refused it with a movement of his head.

"I'm out, B" Sam said in a neutral tone, but he could see Blaine's heart breaking through his eyes anyway as he let go of him.

"They fired you anyway because of me" he answered, his eyes getting glassy again.

"If I leave quietly I'll get myself a bonus" Sam added with a sarcastic smile.

"So I did it for nothing" Blaine lamented as he stood up so he could pace around the room, unable to keep still anymore. "I hurt my family, you lost your job and I did it for nothing"

"No, no, not for nothing, B!" Sam said while he followed him, as he was not going to let Blaine blame himself after what he had done for him. "Nobody's ever done anything like that for me before!"

"You were right, Sam" Blaine said as he turned around and surprised Sam with a defeated expression he had never seen on him before –and that he didn't like one bit–. "You can't win, no matter what you do"

"You listen to me, I don't want to hear that from you. You can" Sam said, desperate to make that sadness disappear from Blaine's beautiful eyes, while he put his hands over Blaine's biceps and even shook him slightly to make him react.

"I used to think so" Blaine answered as some tears started finding their way down his cheeks again.

Sam threw his arms around him and brought him to his chest as Blaine's body started shaking with sobs. Sam didn't know what had happened with his family, but he could easily guess it had not been nice, judging by how broken Blaine looked.

"I can't believe you told them that" Sam said as he devotedly caressed the back of Blaine's head, wanting him to understand how much it meant to him so he wouldn't think it hadn't been worth it and how much he admired him for that. "You came out to them like that only to save my ass"

"I would do anything for you" Blaine honestly said, breaking the embrace to look at Sam's face, so the latter could see in his eyes he was telling the truth.

"I know" Sam said without the shadow of a doubt as he cupped Blaine's neck and gratefully kissed him. "Come on" he said as he erased the tears from Blaine's cheeks with his thumbs and then took his hand in his. "Help me pack my things, will you?"

Blaine nodded, letting Sam pull him towards what was going to be their last moment together.

* * *

They hardly said any word after Blaine told him what had happened with his father while they gathered Sam's things and took them to his car. It took them less time than expected, as Sam didn't really have a lot of things, and before they knew it, the best summer of Sam's life was packed in his car's trunk.

"I need to do something before I go" Sam said, not wanting to give more details about it. "Why don't you take a last look around my cabin in case I've forgotten something and I'll meet you here in a few minutes?"

"Alright" Blaine agreed with a disheartened tone, and Sam gave him a quick peck on the lips to comfort him before he disappeared.

The reason he hadn't wanted Blaine to know where he was going was that he was going to the Anderson's cabin to talk to his father. He knew Blaine was totally heartbroken, and not only because Sam was leaving, but because of how things were with his family, mainly his father. And after what he had done for him… the least Sam could do was try and make things better for him. After all, he was not going to be there for him when he would need him the most.

Sam walked decidedly along the cabin's porch, trying to gain the courage to speak to the man that had rejected his hand the last time he had seen him and who was very aware of the very intimate relationship he had been keeping with his son. He only hoped he wouldn't make things even worse for Blaine, he thought as he knocked on the door. Don Anderson appeared only a few seconds later.

"Mr. Anderson, could I…" Sam started, but stopped himself for a second to take off his sunglasses as a sign of respect. "I'm going anyway and I know what you must be thinking"

"You don't know anything about me" Don answered angrily.

"I know you want Blaine to be like you" Sam contradicted him, as he felt he knew something about that man after everything Blaine had told him about him. "Be the kind of person that does things to make other people look up to them"

"Don't talk to me about my son" Don interrupted him, but Sam decided to ignore him.

"But Dr. Anderson, Blaine is already like that, he's the most kindhearted and brave person I've ever known, and if you could just see how his sexuality doesn't change any of that…" Sam tried to reason with him, but Dr. Anderson only seemed to get angrier at every word he said, as if he considered an offense that he pretended to know his son more than he did.

"Don't tell me what to see" Don replied, not needing to raise his voice to sound very threatening. "I see someone in front of me who got his partner in trouble and sent her out to some butcher as he wooed on an innocent young boy like my son"

"Yeah, I guess that's what you would see" Sam answered with a nod before turning to go, sad that he hadn't been able to fix anything.

* * *

Blaine was obediently waiting for him next to the car, his face the perfect picture of misery, even if he was looking even more beautiful than ever. Gulping his own tears before Blaine could hear them in his voice, he approached him and threw his jacket and his sunglasses inside the car through the window in preparation for his trip.

"Well…" Sam said, suddenly feeling awkward in front of Blaine, just as they had done before they admitted their feelings to each other what felt like a lifetime ago, even if it was only a few days.

"I can't imagine being here without you even one day" Blaine said with the saddest sigh Sam had ever heard.

"I was thinking you'll have more time to help your little Hummel friend with the talent show" Sam joked, aiming for some smile that he was glad to elicit.

"We surprised everybody" Blaine said with a chuckle that Sam quickly reciprocated before embracing him with all his forces.

"I guess we did" he answered before kissing the top of Blaine's head, deeply inhaling into the unique scent of Blaine's curls for the last time. "But I'll never be sorry"

"Neither will I" Blaine answered before he captured Sam's lips in a long kiss.

They melted in a neverending embrace after that, none of them willing to let go as they knew that it would mean their ending. They had been together for such a short time that they hadn't had the time or the courage to talk about what would happen when the summer was over and now it was too late and the decision had been made for them, even if both felt that everything that had happened between them had been too much for just a summer fling.

"Please, don't" Sam said as he heard a sob escape from Blaine's throat, so he broke the embrace and cup Blaine's cheeks in his hands. "Let me have a smile as the last image I have of you. One of these smiles of yours that make me feel like the most special man in the earth because they're only for me" Sam pleaded, and Blaine complied, even if it didn't look like any of those smiles that he loved so much. "That's better"

Sam embraced him again, almost as if he was physically unable to let go of him, and started rocking their bodies together as he softly sang in Blaine's ear to comfort him.

 _Here comes the sun  
Here comes the sun,  
and I say, It's all right_

 _Little darling  
It's been a long, cold lonely winter  
Little darling  
It feels like years since it's been here_

 _Here comes the sun  
Here comes the sun,  
and I say, It's all right_

 _Little darling  
The smiles returning to the faces  
Little darling  
It seems like years since it's been here_

 _Here comes the sun  
Here comes the sun,  
and I say, It's all right_

Their lips found each other for a last time and Sam's thumb moved on its own accord to catch a stray tear on Blaine's face.

"See ya" Sam simply said before finally separating to get into his car, because there was nothing else he could say that would make them feel better and he didn't want to make things even harder with promises they couldn't keep.

Blaine watched as Sam got into his car and closed the door, and he noticed how he turned it on almost immediately, probably scared to lose his courage if he hesitated. He got the car moving a little more brusquely than necessary, and Blaine followed it a few steps until he stopped in the middle of the road to see it go.

Inside the car, Sam couldn't help himself and took a look at the rear mirror to have a last glimpse of the boy who had so completely stolen his heart. And when he saw him there, standing in the middle of the road, so beautiful and perfect even if he seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, he couldn't hold on any longer and broke in bitter sobs for what he had lost.

* * *

Blaine didn't move from his place until long after Sam's car had disappeared down the road, as if he was incapable of reacting. But when he did, he couldn't stop the flow of tears falling down his cheeks. And he didn't even try to remove them when he came back to his cabin and found his father again sitting down on the porch, though this time he didn't try to apologize to him; he didn't even say anything. But he sent the older man an accusing gaze, blaming him and the people like him for sending Sam away from him. And judging by the surprise and the hint of guilt on his father's face, Blaine knew he had understood.

Not really knowing what to do, as his mind and his body felt too numb to do much anything, he got into his room and closed the door behind him. He then proceeded to sit on his bed and wondered how he was going to carry on with his life after everything that had happened that summer.

Of course he should have known better, as he hadn't been there for even a minute when Cooper quietly made his way into the room and wordlessly sat at his side and put his arms around him to bring him to his chest.

His brother's compassion immediately broke his defenses and he started sobbing on his brother's shoulder.

"That's it, little brother" Cooper whispered as he held onto him more strongly. "Let it all out. I'm here for you"

They spent like that a few minutes until Blaine calmed himself enough to speak and Cooper finally dared to let go of him, though he kept an arm around his little brother's shoulders while he waited for him to be able to talk.

"So Sam, huh?" Cooper said in a joking tone, hoping to break the ice and get his brother comfortable enough for talking. "I must admit I didn't see that one coming"

Blaine chuckled in spite of himself. Trust Cooper to make him smile in a moment like that, Blaine thought fondly. He could see Cooper was not judging him –not for his sexuality, nor for not being honest with him–, but Blaine still thought he deserved some explanation.

"Cooper, I wanted to tell you, but…" Blaine tried to explain as he dried the tears from his face.

"Hey, no, Blaine, don't worry" Cooper quickly stopped him. "This is not about me. That's not an easy thing to come to terms with, you needed to do it in your own time"

"You were going to be the first one to know, you know?" Blaine said in total honestly, looking intently at his brother.

"You mean, aside from Sam" Cooper joked, eliciting a smile from his younger brother again.

"Well, yes, obviously" Blaine admitted, slightly blushing at the implications of Cooper's words. "But Sam told me I should trust some people and I told him I would tell you. And I was going to, but…"

"But the option was takenaway from you" Cooper finished for him, comprehensively.

"Yes"

"You know I love you just the same, do you?" Cooper said, turning serious for a moment because it was very important for him that his brother would understand how nothing was going to change between them.

"Thanks, Cooper" Blaine answered, this time him being the one to embrace Cooper strongly to him.

"And… that I understand how you're feeling now that Sam is gone and… how you feel about him" Cooper continued, looking sympathetically at him and comfortingly squeezing his thigh with his hand once the embrace broke. "But I'm here for you, okay? No more secrets"

"No more secrets" Blaine easily agreed as he leant into his brother and rested his head on Cooper's shoulder. "I love you so much, Coop"

"I love you too, little brother" Cooper let himself be sentimental for once as he once again put his arm around Blaine's shoulder and kissed his forehead.

* * *

Blaine couldn't be less in the mood for a show than he was at the moment. His father had reserved a table for them at one side of the ballroom instead of taking seats on the chairs that had been set in rows in front of the stage, even if Cooper was going to perform, claiming they would be more comfortable that way. But Blaine was not an idiot, and he could see what his father was doing: after he had confessed to be in a relationship with Sam the rumors and gossip had spread like wildfire. Not only the very young child of a rich client had been sleeping with one of the employees with the worst reputation –something that happened often enough, but apparently it was okay unless people found out about it–, but on top of that, both of them were men. That was not a small thing, right?

So Blaine was quite aware that his father just intended to keep him from sight as much as he could to avoid furtive glances and constant whispering. He had even made him sit between him and his mother, next to a column. If he did it to protect him or because he was ashamed of him, Blaine didn't know.

Apart from Cooper's performance, which had been adorably disastrous, the talent show was becoming a dull nightmare, when all Blaine wanted was to lie on his bed, cover himself from head to toe with a blanket and cry his heart out at how much he missed Sam already. But when all the participants gathered again on stage to sing a pathetic song about how great Hummel's hotel was and what a great summer they had spent together, Blaine felt like he was going to die from boredom.

Just then, Santana and Puck passed them by on their way to their seats, and Don Anderson stopped them.

"Hey, guys" he said as he stood up to talk to them. After all, Puck had been their personal waiter during all their vacation and Santana had been dating his oldest son, so he got a couple of envelopes from the inner pocket of his jacket and gave them to them. "Thank you for a wonderful service, and good luck"

"Thank you, Dr. Anderson" Santana said. "That's very generous of you, especially considering how things ended up between me and your son"

"And I wanted to thank you for your help in the Quinn situation. I guess we all get in messes like this" Puck added, as he gratefully took the envelope filled with a more than generous tip.

Doctor Anderson couldn't believe what he was hearing: it had been Puck to get Quinn into trouble? Not Sam? And yet Sam had been the one to take responsibility of it?

"What?" he asked in astonishment, looking alternatively at both youngsters, waiting for an explanation.

"I thought Blaine told you" Puck added, realizing his mistake. "Look, I'm not sure… Quinn says… But you know how it is with girls like these, they're liable to pin it on any guy around…"

Don didn't even thought he needed to hear the rest of the story or even lower himself to answer, so without any further comment he grabbed the envelopes from the other two's hands and left them in mid-sentence, while Blaine, who had been watching all the exchange from the distance, couldn't help but smile at the small victory.

* * *

Sam's heart kept beating with more and more speed as he entered the ballroom where he knew the final show of the season was being held, and the sound of that horrible song Kurt insisted to sing every year reached his ears. He had been close to not making it, he realized, and he cursed the amount of time it had taken him to realize that was the place he needed to be, because that was where the person he loved was. If Blaine had taught him something, that was to fight for what he believed in, to make what he thought was the right time without giving a damn about what others might think. Blaine hadn't been afraid to risk everything that mattered to him for him, and Sam was going to do the same for him. Because they needed to be together and no one –not the Hummels, not even Blaine's father– was going to keep them apart if Blaine still thought he was worth fighting for. And Burt Hummel had already fired him anyway, what more could he do to him? He was going to get Blaine and they were going to sing the song they had written together. And if anybody didn't like it… well, they knew were the door was.

On his way in, Sam greeted all his friends amongst the entertainment staff that were watching the show from the back of the room –the other music teachers, the dancing teachers and the events organizers–, who seemed pretty happy to see him back, and then he passed them by in search of the person he really was dying to see. His eyes moved along every single row, hoping to find his cute and characteristic curls, but he was disappointed when he couldn't find them. His eyes turned to the side, to the few tables that had been moved to the end of the room, and he was furious to find him there, where he could hardly see him cornered as he was behind his father, as if he was something that needed to be hidden.

His resolution only growing stronger, Sam walked decidedly to the Anderson's table and stood right next to it, his heart about to burst when he saw Blaine's face lighting up with the surprise and the delight of seeing him again.

"Nobody puts Blaine in a corner" Sam said, angrily staring at Don Anderson before offering his hand for Blaine to take. "Come on"

Blaine, brave as usual, didn't hesitate to take Sam's hand, almost defiantly, and followed him even if he didn't know where he was taking him. He heard his father stand up behind him, but his mother stopped him before he could reach them. When he noticed Sam was leading him to the stage he hesitated for a second, but Sam squeezed Blaine's hand more strongly.

"Everything is going to be fine, B" he whispered to him, only turning to him for a second to see Blaine nod trustingly at him.

They went up the stairs that lead them to the stage, still hand in hand, and interrupted the song the contestants were still singing –Blaine looking apologetically at his brother, who just smiled reassuringly at him–. Burt Hummel looked like he wanted to murder Sam right then and there, but he refrained himself to avoid making a scene as Sam walked to the mic and looked at Blaine for a second before turning to the audience.

"Sorry about the disruption, folks, but I always do the last number of the season" Sam said, not faltering even at the surprised silence that had fallen across the ballroom. "This year somebody told me not to" he continued, and he almost smiled when his friends, who perfectly knew he was referring to Kurt, wooed from the back of the room. "Still, for the first time, I'm going to do my own music with a great partner, who's not only a terrific singer and musician, but somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people, no matter what it costs them" Sam said as he looked lovingly into Blaine's eyes. "Somebody who's taught me about what kind of person I want to be. Mr. Blaine Anderson"

Don Anderson rised again from his chair, intent to put an end to whatever was about to happen, but Angelica had had enough from his husband's behavior and pushed him down again with a hand to his shoulder.

"Sit down, Don" she said in an angry tone that left no room for argument and his husband, for once, obeyed her.

Sam squeezed Blaine's hand one last time before rushing to help Sebastian and a couple of friends get a piano and a guitar onstage –as he had asked for their help outside, before making his way into the ballroom–. He smiled at the surprise in Blaine's face as he stood rooted to the ground, and Sam rushed to explain.

"I thought it would be a good time to sing that song we wrote together"

"Sam…" Blaine tried to protest, as they hadn't even rehearsed it and he was feeling insecure and very self aware of all the gazes on them.

"You're going to do great" Sam answered with a trusting smile as he guided the smaller boy to sit to his piano. And before Blaine could protest any further, Sam started singing his part, so Blaine could only accompany with the piano.

 _Now I've had the time of my life_ _  
No I never felt like this before  
Yes I swear it's the truth  
and I owe it all to you_

Sam smiled encouragingly at his lover, as it was now his turn, and Blaine nodded at him before he started to sing.

 _'Cause I've had the time of my life_ _  
and I owe it all to you_

Sam joined in the music with his guitar, and his heart felt about to burst when the audience started clapping in time with the song and Blaine's face lit up with enthusiasm. He was so happy to see Blaine like that that he almost missed his cue –though he started singing just in time.

 _I've been waiting for so long_ _  
Now I've finally found someone  
To stand by me_

More confidently this time, Blaine continued with the song, never getting his gaze away from Sam's.

 _We saw the writing on the wall_ _  
As we felt this magical fantasy_

Smiling tenderly at each other, they continued singing together. __

 _Now with passion in our eyes  
There's no way we could disguise it secretly  
So we take each other's hand  
'Cause we seem to understand the urgency_

Sam _: just remember_ _  
_Blaine: _You're the one thing_ _  
_Sam: _I can't get enough of_ _  
_Sam: _So I'll tell you something_ _  
_Both: _This could be love because_ __

 _I've had the time of my life  
No I never felt this way before  
Yes I swear it's the truth  
And I owe it all to you  
'Cause I've had the time of my life  
And I've searched through every open door  
'Til I found the truth  
And I owe it all to you_

The happiness in Blaine's face told Sam he had done exactly the right thing coming back to him and getting him onstage, where that boy surely belonged. And once everything was fixed between them, he would make sure to convince him that was what he needed to do. Meanwhile, he looked at Blaine's smiling face again and sent him a flying kiss that made him blush just before he started singing again.

Blaine _: With my body and soul_ _  
I want you more than you'll ever know_

Sam _: So we'll just let it go_ _  
Don't be afraid to lose control_

Blaine _: Yes I know what's on your mind_ _  
When you say: "Stay with me tonight"_

Sam _: Just remember_ _you're the one thing  
_ Blaine _: I can't get enough of_ _  
_Sam _: So I'll tell you something_ _  
_Both _: This could be love because_ __

 _'Cause I had the time of my life  
No I've never felt this way before  
Yes I swear it's the truth  
And I owe it all to you  
'Cause I've had the time of my life  
And I've searched through every open door  
Till I found the truth  
and I owe it all to you_

Sam couldn't stand the separation any longer and stood up in the instrumental part of the song in which Blaine got to show his skills with his piano, to walk right next to him and motion for him to move so he could sit on the stool next to him for the slower part of the song. Blaine smiled and shifted to the side so Sam could sit at his side, feeling the same need to feel him near than the blond felt.

Sam took advantage of the fact that Blaine wouldn't play for some verses so he could turn him to him and join their foreheads together, completely forgetting about all the people looking at them –Blaine's family included– to make sure Blaine understood he meant every word he was singing.

 _Now I've had the time of my life_ _  
No I never felt this way before  
Yes I swear it's the truth  
and I owe it all to you_

Blaine could feel tears coming to his eyes that felt very different to the ones he had been sharing all day as he heard Sam's friends and other people around the audience –and he could have sworn that was Cooper's voice– cheering at them while they reach the final part of the song, a song they had written together from the bottom of their hearts and were now sharing with them, obviously happy about them.

Both _: "cause I've had the time of my life_ _  
No I've never felt this way before  
Yes I swear it's the truth  
And I owe it all to you_

As soon as they finished playing, Sam gently grabbed Blaine's chin between his fingers and brought his face closer so he could give his lips a kiss, both to make him see how he felt for him and how proud he was of him and also as a challenge to anyone who would dare to say anything against them.

But not a lot people had anything bad to say to them. The silence was soon broken when the audience started applauding, some of them very enthusiastically at the step the young couple had taken in a lot of ways, and Sam took Blaine's hand to get him on his feet and bring him to the edge of the stage so they could take a bow.

Blaine couldn't believe the acceptance he was seeing in a lot of the people's faces, and he was so happy that he didn't even care about the few of them that left the building indignantly at the show they had offered. He chuckled happily when he saw Cooper waving enthusiastically at him from his place, and Quinn and Sebastian were jumping with joy for them at the back of the room.

After the second vow the curtain closed in front of them and it was them when Blaine couldn't help him anymore and jumped on Sam's arms, closing his arms and legs around him excitedly, still not able to believe how everything had changed in just a few minutes. Sam had to take a step back to regain balance, but as soon as he did he held Blaine close to him and laughed at the boy's enthusiasm.

"I can't believe you came back" Blaine said, his voice muffled against Sam's neck.

"I can't believe I went away in the first place" Sam replied, his voice full of regret that he hadn't had the guts to do that from the beginning.

"You're here now and that's all that matters" Blaine answered as he lifted his head from Sam's shoulder and kissed him full in the mouth.

Just then some music more typical of the staff dancing pavilion that the ballroom of the Hummel's started sounding and they separated to laugh when they saw Sebastian behind the scenes raising his thumbs at them, obviously being the one responsible for it.

"May I have this dance?" Sam asked as he finally let Blaine on the floor and offered his hand to him.

"Yes, you may" Blaine answered with a smile as he once again trustingly let Sam guide him.

They descended the stairs from the stage to the ball room, where the chairs were being removed so everyone would have room for dancing. And even if it was not by any means the kind of music most of them were used to, everybody seemed to be having a good time.

They had just put their feet on the last step when someone interjected them on their way to the dance floor, and they found Don Anderson standing seriously in front of them.

"I know you weren't the one who got Quinn in trouble" Don said, looking intently at Sam.

"Yeah" Sam cautiously answered, still not sure about where the conversation was going.

"When I'm wrong I say I'm wrong" Don continued. "And I'm sorry about the way I treated you"

"Thank you, sir" Sam gratefully answered, delighted that his relationship with Blaine's father may not be as impossible as he had feared.

But Don apologizing to him didn't mean anything to him if he didn't take a step to mending his relationship with his son. So Sam watched him intently as the doctor turned to his son this time and couldn't help a proud smile breaking into his lips.

"You sounded wonderful up there" he simply said, but it was enough for Blaine to understand the sentiment behind it and he embraced his father gratefully.

"I've missed you, Dad" Blaine whispered in his father's ear before letting go of him.

"I've missed you too, son" Don answered, with a shaken voice.

"Dad, I…" Blaine tried to say, probably to apologize again, but his father wouldn't let him.

"We'll have time to talk about everything we need to talk" he interrupted him with a fond smile as he rested his hand on his son's shoulder, jokingly pointing at Sam with his head. "I think someone needs your attention more than me right now"

Both Blaine and Sam chuckled at that and they were about to go when Blaine's father stopped him through the grip he still had on his shoulder.

"I'm still proud of you, son. Of every aspect of you. That much hasn't changed"

"Thank you, Dad" Blaine said, his voice breaking with emotion as he embraced his father again.

"There's nothing to thank me for, Blaine" Don answered, not so far from tears himself, before he broke the embrace and jokingly pushed him away. "Now go"

Blaine laughed and turned to Sam, intending to take his hand to lead him to the dance floor, but they were interrupted again before they could take more than two steps when Cooper planted himself in front of them.

"So you're the famous Sam guy that apparently stole my brother's heart" Cooper said, looking quite menacing.

"I guess that's me" Sam answered with a gulp, because he had left before knowing how Blaine's brother had taken the news. Maybe he was not as cool as guy as Blaine had told him.

"You better take care of him or I'll kill you" Cooper added, threateningly pointing his finger at his face, but a smile finally broke into his face and Sam chuckled in relief that he was just pulling his leg.

"Don't worry, I intend to do it" Sam answered, taking Blaine's hand, still in his, to his lips so he could kiss it while looking tenderly at him with an implicit promise to do it until the end of time.

"You better" Cooper repeated with a smile, obviously pleased at the obvious love he could see in that boy for his brother, before pretending to take a good look at him. "Not bad, little brother, you have a good taste"

"Cooper!" Blaine immediately admonished him, blushing furiously, which just made the other two laugh fondly at him.

"Just have fun, you two" Cooper said as he patted both their backs and disappeared in search for some cute girl to dance with.

"Do you think they are going to let us dance now?" Sam joked as he finally put his arms around Blaine's waist and motioned for him to encircle his neck. "Or are there any other relatives of yours waiting in line to give us their approval?"

"No, I think my Mom will wait until the end of the party" Blaine answered with a chuckle as he let Sam lead their moves, just happy to be in his arms after a whole day believing he would never see him again.

"And I thought we would never be able to dance like this in here" Sam joked as he rested his hands on Blaine's hips and moved them in time with his.

"There were a lot of things we never thought we would do" Blaine said, a little bit more serious, his eyes shining with emotion. "Thanks for making me sing"

"You were amazing" Sam answered, his voice filled with pride for his… boyfriend, maybe? Maybe it was about time to set some things straight. "So… have you made a decision about college?"

"I'm going to NYADA" Blaine answered with no hesitation. Sam had said he had a learnt a lot from him, but it was also true the other way around, and if there was something Sam had taught him, that was to fight for his dreams. "I'm not pretending about anything anymore, and that's what I want to do"

"Good" Sam answered, even prouder than before, just before feigning to be thinking deeply about something. "New York, huh? I guess it can be as good a place as any to start over, isn't it?"

"What?" Blaine asked, his eyes full of hope even if he was not sure he really understood what Sam meant.

"Why not?" Sam asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You mean… you're coming with me?"

"Maybe I will find my chance in the city"

"Maybe" Blaine agreed with a nervous laugh, still unable to believe what was happening.

"I don't think I have an option now anyway, I can't imagine my life without you anymore" Sam admitted with no trace of joking in his voice this time. "That is, if you want me there, of course"

"Oh, Sam" Blaine answered, throwing himself at Sam's arms in the strongest embrace Sam had ever received. "I love you"

"I love you too, babe" Sam answered as he squeezed Blaine more strongly to his chest, unable to believe how much happiness a heart could contain.

In fact, he embraced Blaine so strongly that he ended up lifting him from the floor and then he took advantage of the fact that his boyfriend was at his mercy to capture his lips in the most tender and the longest kiss they had shared until then, the first with a promise of future. The first of the many they were going to share, Sam thought as he let Blaine on the floor again and continued rocking both their bodies together when the song that had been sounding on his cabin the first time they made love started sounding there, he realized with a chuckle, to just put a perfect ending to a perfect summer.

* * *

SONGS:

Can you feel the love tonight – Elton John

Because of you – Keith Martin

Here comes the sun – The Beatles

The time of my life – Jennifer Warned & Bill Medley

* * *

 _ **A/N** : Well? What did you think? I realized it's the first time I wrote a blam fic about them falling in love (all the other were more about realizing their feelings, and one of them was already in love), and it was so sweet and it gave me a lot of feelings. All the made-up scene at the lake were wonderful to write. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did :)_


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